Fortune's Wheel
by Ms Bat
Summary: Murder! Theft! Vandalism! But is it ghosts or humans? As SPR rush to solve their latest case, can they keep everyone safe, especially when the perpetrators seem to be out for blood?
1. Chapter 1

Fortune's Wheel

A _Ghost Hunt _Fanfiction

by Ms Bat

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of _Ghost Hunt_.

Warning: Vaguish references to Episode 23 and 25 of the anime.

_12 April, Saturday 5.32 am_

The carnival grounds stood in a cloak of mist and shadow. It'd rained the night before, and dewdrops still glistened on the faded and peeling paint on the mechanical rides and the roofs of the small food and souvenir stalls scattered around. Then, the single lamp-post that stood outside the entrance of the carnival flickered and died. A faint strain of music struck up and the coloured lights that were strung across the entire carnival glowed enticingly as the rides all started up, adding their own machine whirrs and own theme music to the gentle piping music that had first awoken...

_11 April, Friday 10.40 am_

"And then, just as abruptly, the music would die down, the lights and rides would switch off and everything would be back to normal." the man finished with a nervous glance at his two listeners. The girl with the brown hair and a skirt that seemed too short for her good looked hopefully at the young man seated beside her. "This seems interesting. Don't you think it's worth taking up Akio-san's case?" That young man, Shibuya Kazuya, or Naru, as he'd been called by the girl earlier, pretended not to have seen the puppy eyes that were directed on his person and instead took a sip of tea. "There is no evidence that anything remotely paranormal is connected to this case. I suggest that you hire a few men and scout the area for delinquent pranksters instead, and that they should check for technical malfunctions while they're at it."

Akio Mamoru shook his head. "I _have_ already asked that the technicians check the equipment. There is nothing wrong with either the rides or the electrical generators." He paused, and then sighed. "Personally, I am not the sort of person who believes in ghosts or the supernatural, but my men are getting jittery and are refusing to get back to work unless the place has been investigated. I would be really grateful if you could come down and assess the situation, and maybe perform some rites to placate the men. I am already a month behind schedule and the owners are complaining no end about the delay."

Naru nodded. "A day's assessment would probably be all I require. I am still not ruling out the possibility that people rather than the supernatural are involved." He tugged casually at his shirt sleeve. "My time is precious, and I expect to charge for a full consultation, ghosts or no ghosts." Akio nodded. "Of course. I understand. I will be at the site tomorrow to guide you." He stood up and shook hands with the younger man. "Thank you for your help, Shibuya-san".

_12 April Saturday 4.15 am_

And, so, that is how, I, Taniyama Mai, found myself rushing to SPR at the very unearthly hour of four in the morning. Trust the ghosts to get into something mischievous so early in the day. I run up the stairs and burst into the main office. "Yes! I'm not late!" I yell loudly.

"Wrong. You are. By two minutes." Naru stated pointedly before gesturing at a couple of cardboard boxes stacked on the coffee table. "You forgot to unpack these yesterday. When you're done arranging the books on the shelf in my office, get me a cup of tea." he said curtly before disappearing into the kitchen. Dang it! I didn't come on time so that I could unpack his stuff! Muttering unhappily, I cut open the first box and groaned at the sight of the thick black volumes that had been stuffed into it. They were packed so tightly that I could barely get my fingers in-between them to pull them out. Instead, I ended up tilting the box and shaking the whole pile onto the floor. Naru would live even if a few of his precious books get dented, I reasoned. They were mostly in English, which I couldn't read, and I began gathering as many of them up before going into his office. It was pitch-black and I stumbled over the edge of the sofa on my way to the shelf by the window. I yelped and dropped the books in a bid to stop myself from toppling ungracefully, and ended up hopping all over the carpet when one of the books bounced off my foot instead.

The exasperated sigh issuing from the door made me whip around quickly.

"What happened?" Naru demanded, as he took in the sight of, well, his assistant (me) jumping like a moron and his new books all over the floor and the sofa at a crooked angle. I flushed. "I tripped over the sofa. Sorry! I'll straighten it as soon as I pack everything away..."

He smirked. "I fail to see how you entirely missed such a large piece of furniture."

I scowled at him. "Well, if you would too if your boss's office happens to be darker than a vampire's lair," I grumbled. "And, _especially _if you've been dragged up at 4a.m. to _pack books_."

"Would you rather carry down the equipment to the van?" Naru pointed out. I blinked. "Eh?" Naru ignored me and began picking up some of the books as well. "Hurry up. We're leaving in 10 minutes. Just arrange these alphabetically by author first."

"But," I persisted, "Why do we need the equipment if we're just going for an assessment?" He'd picked up a book and was smoothing out some of the crumpled pages. "Because, I would like to get the assessment done quickly," Naru retorted before exiting. I had just shelved everything when I spotted the book that Naru had been browsing through lying on the desk. I picked it up to look at the title. It was in Japanese. _Hauntings in Japan: a historical selection of cursed locations _I read before I heard Naru calling me to hurry again. I hastily shoved it onto the shelf and ran out.

_4.45 am_

The park grounds look creepy in the morning, I decided. Not only does it feel too empty, there is that mist that Akio-san mentioned. As usual, Naru decides to go on ahead while I begin to unload some of the equipment. I sneeze, and wish once again that I had thought to wear thicker clothes instead. Then, I felt a chill go down my back and I shuddered, the cold familiarity of being watched by hostile eyes gripping me. I turn slowly, and felt my heart plummet when a gray figure lurched out of the mist towards me. I screeched, dropping the box I was holding and ran towards the theme park gates, right into Lin. "There's something following me!" I wail frantically. Lin didn't even bat an eyelid. "Miss Taniyama, I suggest you get a proper look again," he replied, a brief hint of amusement lacing his normally stern voice.

"What-" I said and then flushed when I saw that it was Akio-san and Naru walking towards us. I gulped.

"Mai." Naru began.

"You didn't see that!" I said quickly.

"If you mean you screaming and dropping my equipment, which is expensive, yes, I did." he replied drily. Akio-san seemed bemused. "I was told that you were pros. Didn't think you'll get startled so easily." Naru frowns at this. I flush again, easily imagining what he was thinking.

"I assure you, SPR is entirely professional. Our clients report a hundred percent positive rating." He frowns sharply at me from the corner of his eyes and I glower back. _I see that you failed to include how you terrified 100% of your clients. _"Please rest assured that we will be extremely thorough in our investigation."

_5.10 am_

Akio-san led us past the rides. "As you can see, all the park facilities are all very new. They were designed by our highly-qualified engineers at the company headquarters in Odaiba. The construction began in late December last year." Although the early morning mist partially shrouded the rides, I could see that they were indeed as Akio-san said, very new. There was a merry-go-round, one of those nausea inducing teacup rides, and in the distance, the long spiny skeleton of a roller coaster. We were headed for the control room in the middle of the park to examine that the equipment were all working properly as Akio-san said they had been. Then, suddenly, appearing out of nowhere in all the fog was the most magnificent Ferris wheel I had ever seen. Great spokes of taut steel radiated out from the star-shaped core like silver rays of light soaring into the distant sky above. I snuck a look at Naru, who had walked ahead with Lin and Akio-san and sighed inwardly. Somehow, I doubt if he'll ever consent to sharing a ride with me after the job. And sure enough, as if he had read my thoughts, Naru turned his head round to frown sternly at me. "Mai. Hurry up and stop staring like you've never seen a Ferris wheel before. We're not here to play."

"Hai, hai," I huffed and ran the short distance to where they were now waiting. The control room had been designed like one of those old fashioned lighthouses, with a spiral staircase going up to the top, where the theme park's main computer system was housed.

"Whoa," I said when I saw the rows and rows of switches, buttons and glowing screens and earned myself another disapproving look from Naru. _What's up with him, _I wondered. Grumpy as Naru was, he certainly seemed to be in an even fouler mood this morning.

_5.32 am_

Everything looked completely normal, and Naru was grilling Akio-san on queries about the security of the park when suddenly the lights in the control room flickered and died. The air suddenly seemed a lot colder and I instinctively moved towards where Naru was standing. Then, just as the park owner had described, the lights outside lit up one by one and the rides began moving. There was also an unmistakable pipe music that seemed to be playing in the background. Then, there was a loud click and the rides all abruptly switched off.

I squeaked and latched on to the nearest person just as the lights in the control room came back on. To my embarrassment, I found myself hugging Akio-san tightly and hastily let go. "I'm sorry!" I said, my face heating up. Naru coughed. "If you're done," he said, as Lin's jaw twitched in amusement. "I may explain your paranormal experience." He walked back to the wall, where there was a switch and flipped it. The lights in the room died again and the eerie music struck up as one by one, all the rides began again. "It appears that someone, no doubt one of your employees, saw scaring the rest of his colleagues a fit joke." Akio Mamoru looked genuinely baffled. "That's impossible. We conducted a thorough check! We even engaged external professionals to do the assessment." Naru's expression suggested that he thought highly-trained monkeys could also do the same job. "It is likely that whoever is behind this is well aware of the timings of the checks…"

As Naru and Akio-san discussed probable culprits, I wander over to the switchboard, sighing to myself. What a wasted trip! And I had to wake so early! Knowing Naru, I was not looking forward to a day back at the office organizing his latest additions to his bookshelves. I had reached out to touch a computer screen when all the lights on the switchboard suddenly went crazy, flickering on and off and making loud bleeps. I quickly stood back, and put my hands behind me guiltily.

"Mai! What did you do?" Naru demanded as soon as they had all rushed over. As I was bumped out of the way, I managed to protest, "I didn't even touch anything!" But then, with a dozen crack lines spidering across the glass simultaneously, the windows broke inwards, showering all of us with pointy fragments. "Get down!" I heard somebody yell and ducked instinctively.

When I looked up again, the control room was littered with splintered glass shards and a swivel chair lay with its wheels still spinning slowly in the air. There was nothing else unusual to be seen and I checked myself, wincing when I had to pull out glass piece from my elbow. "Are you alright, Miss Taniyama?" Akio-san had wandered over, concern in his voice. At least he didn't look as if he had been badly hit, and I nodded my head quickly. "I'm fine," I said. "Where's Lin-san and Naru?"

"Naru!"

Lin rushed past us so fast that all I saw was a blur. My heart lurched. The only time I had seen him move that quickly was when Naru had collapsed in the Yoshimi case. When I got there, Lin was helping Naru up, and I gulped when I saw blood dripping from his hairline. "Naru! You're bleeding!" I cried in concern.

"I know. Stop stating the obvious," Naru snapped. Lin, whose face had been etched with worry lines relaxed slightly. He clearly felt that if his charge could still manage to make snippy rejoinders, he wasn't as badly injured as he thought. "I think this merits a hospital visit," he calmly said instead. Akio-san was in agreement. "I believe Miss Taniyama would need stitches for her arm."

* * *

_Author's notes: Poor SPR! And things aren't going to get better for a while yet. They never do, do they? And, to the reader reading my other fic, I promise to update soon.  
_


	2. Chapter 2

Fortune's Wheel

Chapter 2: Setting Precedents

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of _Ghost Hunt_.

_13th April, Sunday 2.05pm_

The raven-haired young man had been concentrating on his book when a knock on his hospital room's door led him to look up, a frown that hardly marred his features etched coolly on his face. Before he could tell whoever it was to leave (and go back home and rest), the sliding doors were slid back with a loud bang and a brown-haired girl rushed in, followed more sedately by an older Chinese man and a red-haired lady in a doctor's white coat.

"How're you feeling, Naru?" she enquired as she began refilling his (near) empty flask of oolong tea. Without deigning to reply, he shut the black volume with an audible snap, an act that while having proven effective in silencing a lecture theatre populated with students older than him, failed entirely to stop Mai from shoving a cup of tea at him noisily. "Here you go," she continued cheerfully, as if the highly visible white bandage that poked out from beneath her shirt sleeve didn't exist. Ayako, the red-haired doctor snorted derisively. "Shibuya. If not for the fact that you happen to be a patient at my friend's hospital too, I would have booted you out a long time ago. How can you let an injured person run menial tasks for you?"

Eyes like chips of ice bored into her. "Do I look capable of stopping her?" he said from where he was propped on the bed with his own large bandage wrapped round his head. Mai sweatdropped. "Ayako! I'm _fine_!" She held up her arm and waggled it pointedly. "See."

The older lady waved her aside. "You really ought to stop getting yourself into trouble every case. It's just as well your hospital fees are covered by your stiff ass employer over there," she grumbled halfheartedly.

_2.23pm_

The doors slid open again, this time revealing Akio Mamoru and a man in his mid twenties. "Sorry to interrupt!" he apologized as they stepped into the room. Naru nodded curtly. "How may I help you?" he asked politely, though people who knew him would have guessed that he was in fact, getting annoyed. The unfortunate site foreman gestured at his companion. "This is Himitsu Yuuji-kun. He is my assistant." The young man moved forward and handed a beige folder to Naru. "Pleased to meet you, Shibuya-san. This folder contains the preliminary report on the glass breakage that occurred yesterday. According to the lab findings, it seems the glass shattered as a combined result of thermal stress and poor manufacturing. We have already contacted the glass supplier to inform them of the…"

_2.30pm_

"That's impossible!" I broke in, cutting short Yuuji-san's explanation. "You can't expect us to believe that the glass broke on accident! It practically _exploded_! What about the computers going crazy?"

"Mai!" Naru scolded. I scowled back as fiercely.

To my surprise, the assistant laughed. "To be honest, I find the report a little hard to believe." He grinned apologetically at Akio-san. The older man shook his head and sighed. "Yuuji believes that the carnival ground is haunted," he explained. "And while I would prefer that what happened yesterday be the work of natural phenomena or poor workmanship, I am finding it increasingly difficult to believe that there isn't anything supernatural going on," he admitted.

"Has anything happened to change your mind?" Naru asked as Lin began firing up his laptop.

_2.38 pm_

"Well. After what happened yesterday, Yuuji and I went back in the afternoon to check on the site. Everything looked just as it had in the morning, and we were in the control room taking photos and collecting glass samples for the lab when I heard a sound behind me. When I looked round, I thought I saw a black shadow dart away." Akio-san mopped nervously at the sheen of cold sweat that had formed on his forehead. "I was sure it was just my imagination, but then I heard the sound of footsteps a second time, and this time, when I turned around, I saw that the office chair which had been on the other side of the room was now directly behind me." He looked at his assistant. "As I had just returned from the restroom, Akio-sempai asked me if I saw anyone leave the control room on my way up, and I am very certain no one had entered or left." Yuuji-san said.

"If you'll remember the layout of the control room," Akio-san continued. "You would know it's impossible to hide a stick in there, let alone a man."

We had all been listening to the two men's account, and except for the sound of Lin typing, we were all silent. Naru seemed to be deep in thought. "Shibuya-san. We at KokuGin Constructions would be extremely grateful if you would continue to investigate these occurrences for us."

For one thing, neither Akio nor Himitsu-san needed to have persuaded Naru. For one thing, he never left any job half-completed, for another, the descriptions of both men had left me with a bad feeling about this case, and at the very least, the fancy equipment would _really_ come handy now.

_15th April, Tuesday _

Sure enough, the members of Shibuya Psychic Research found themselves back at the carnival grounds four days after they had first set foot there. Mai's cut had healed, with only a faint scar showing that there had been any injury at all. The three of them were joined by Ayako, who had insisted on "seeing what this over exaggerated case was all about" and Takigawa Houshou, who claimed that he was present to "clean up should the miko mess up as she usually does". Neither of them of course, admitted that they were there purely out of professional interest, or that it was Naru who had as usual, assembled the typical cast of helpers.

_2.15pm_

"Mai."

"What?" I wheezed under the weight of yet another box of heavy equipment as Naru stood unhelpfully by.

"When you are done with that, go make sure that the camera in the souvenir shop is not malfunctioning. I am not getting any recordings from it."

Without another word, that narcissistic jerk strode back to where Lin was already comfortably seated in front of the dozen or so screens. I thumped down the box in a corner, and grabbing my clipboard, walked out of the base hastily, in case Naru decided to reprimand me about being less than careful with his precious equipment. Given the large size of the compound, we were really stretched thin across. Naru had decided that it was best to start by placing cameras around the places where the staff had reported the most level of spooky activity until the technicians could fix the control room. This meant walking a long distance to any camera at all, and I set out without relish for the souvenir shop.

The sky was overcast, and puddles dotted the uneven ground as I walked past the empty stalls, their temporary tarp flapping sullenly in the cool breeze. I turned right at the end of the row of the makeshift booths and came face to face with the carnival entrance. The souvenir shop was a small building that shared the park exit. I turned the doorknob of the yet-to-be-painted door and froze when I thought I saw something move through the coloured glass panel.

"Hey! Mai!" I heard whoever it was in there say and let go of my breath. The door opened from inside and I found myself grinning at Yasuhara. "How come you're here?" I asked as I walked over to the camera near the cashier counter.

"The entrance gate was stuck, and I was about to call Naru when I spotted the open exit."

He looked on as I examined the camera. "Mai," Yasuhara said, and pointed at where the camera's plug was not connected to its socket. "Oh, right." I sigh and stuck it back in. "Well, now that that's done, shall I bring you to where our base is this time?" We all walked back out and I closed the door behind me. "I think you'll love it," I smiled.

_2.47 pm_

The guest rooms were to the east of the rides, near the back and Yasuhara was visibly impressed by how we had been given the full use of three of the completed rooms and the lobby for base. "You should check out the room you're sharing with Takigawa and John when he comes tomorrow." I said as I showed him where his room would be. "Us ladies are just across from you, and Lin and Naru's are further down." I handed him the room key as we walked into the guy's room. Unlike our room, Yasuhara's room opened out to a tree-lined backyard. A path of artistically arranged stone steps led the way to where an onsen was hidden behind thick clumps of bushes. "Wow. It's like looking at a different world," he commented as he set his bag down.

We had just entered the lobby again when Takigawa pulled me over. "Ah, and you should be introduced to Mai," he was saying as he pushed me forward. "Hey… Bou-san," I grumbled before my jaw dropped at the sight of the lady in front of me. If I thought Masako and Ayako were elegant, this lady beat them hands down. Her midnight-black hair was pulled into a long ponytail and she was dressed in a crisp navy pant suit. "Toriame Umeko. I'm pleased to meet you," she said softly and held her well manicured hand out to me. "Taniyama Mai. I'm Shibuya-san's assistant," I replied. "And this is Yasuhara Osamu, who assists with our research part-time."

"Toriame-san is the chief designer for the carnival," Naru said. Was it my imagination, but was he actually smiling a little? I looked discreetly at Lin, who had also abandoned his work station and was standing near Naru. He too looked slightly more relaxed. _What's up with those two_, I wondered. Ayako who had been standing quietly in a corner grinned wryly as if she had read my mind. "It's called a school boy's crush," she whispered and then rapped Takigawa's head smartly. "Oi, aren't you a little too old to be infatuated?" she commented derisively, though I detected a slight trace of jealousy in her voice. "Isn't that because you are too old to feel anything in the first place? Ow!" he yelped when Ayako deliberately trod on his foot with her 3-inch heels.

"A few of my co-workers have offered to assist in the investigation," Akio Mamoru had begun to speak. "This is Himitsu Yuuji, whom some of you already know, the tall guy over there is Yamashiro Takeshi, who has been working with me for three years already and our newbie, Ishihara Watanabe. I looked at the new group of people curiously. Typically, Naru was the first to get back down to business. "As KokuGin's staff are staying in their own quarters to the west of the park grounds, some distance away, it would be good to set up one more camera there and to remain in radio contact." We all nodded in agreement. "Mai." I groan again. "Yes, Naru?"

"Take the camera and follow Himitsu-san and the others to the staff quarters."

_3.25 pm_

"Is Shibuya-san a very strict boss?" Yuuji asked curiously as we walked to the staff area. I nod vehemently.

"Hah! You've no idea! But, he's really good at what he does," I admitted.

"Naru is a pretty strange nickname for him." Umeko-san commented.

"Well, it's because he's such a narcissistic person," I explained, slightly embarrassed.

She laughed. "Well, we've a nickname for Akio-san too," she confided. We call him "Kuma-sempai" because he reminds everyone of a teddy bear."

I could see why everyone liked Toriame-san. She and Yuuji-san were such a pleasant change from being around Naru. Ishihara rolled his eyes. "Trading secrets already, are we," he sneered. "Hurry up girl. We don't have all day," he drawled. I bristled. Seriously!

"Take no notice of young Ishihara," Yamashiro interjected. "He's just jumpy because he's terrified of ghosts," he chuckled as the shorter man turned on him angrily.

_Later that night_

It was after dinner, and everyone had settled in the lobby. The rest of the day had been unremarkable. Naru's computer had detected a slight dip in temperature at the control room, but nothing significant enough for anyone to bother venturing out to check. Yasuhara was seated at the side with Akio-san, deeply absorbed in the board before them. It seemed that they had both found a mutual obsession with Chinese chess. Umeko had left earlier as she was not staying overnight. Meanwhile I was trying to get on with a bit of homework when Ishihara clattered back in, completely out of breath. "Yamashiro-san's gone missing," he gasped.

* * *

_Author's notes: Thank you for your lovely reviews! I'm afraid I'll definitely be slow in updating this. I'm mostly making it up as it goes you see. I value your comments very much, so do remember to drop me a note to let me know what you think. =D  
_

_I'll also be posting updates on my profile from now on in a bid to remain organised.  
_


	3. Chapter 3

Fortune's Wheel

Chapter 3: Highly trained Monkeys

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of _Ghost Hunt_.

_16th April Wednesday 8.00 am_

"We checked around where the old rides are. There's no sign of Yamashiro." The new day did not dawn exactly bright nor clear on the somber group as they wandered in slowly into the lobby. The sky remained heavy with rainclouds and the mist had returned, cloaking everything under a layer of chill. Umeko walked in, concern written on her face. "I heard what happened. Is there still no sign of Yamashiro-san?" she asked. Yuuji shook his head despondently. "No. Ishihara and Takigawa are still searching though." Ayako and Yasuhara had been consulting the map. "It looks as though we've covered almost everywhere. Once they are back, that'll be it," the student said anxiously.

"What the heck is the use of setting up all those fancy hi-tech stuff if you can't even keep watch over everyone?" Ishihara snarled with an accusatory look at Naru. "I told you it wasn't a good idea. But, _no_, Akio-san, you had to bring in these experts even though the Master said not to!"

"Would this be the 'Master' that in the warnings on the wall next to the back entrance of the park?" Yasuhara asked as he flipped through the folder containing the photos taken by the staff. "Way to go, _genius_," Ishihara retorted sarcastically. Yasuhara merely smiled beatifically. "Your genius is over there," he said. So far, Naru had remained silent. He was tapping the table he was leaning against with one finger, a habit that he adopted only when he was deeply perturbed by the evidence or stumped. "It's a pity we did not have a camera near the wall last night," he said. "I would like to see how the writings appeared there."

"The technicians promised that they would be done fixing by this afternoon," Akio-san said. "A lot might happen inbetween," Ayako said. "I believe this might be a case of abduction by earth spirits." Takigawa snorted. "And what evidence do you have of that? Or do you think earth spirits call themselves "The Master"?"

"What about that creepy pipe music?" Mai asked. "Didn't anyone else apart from me and Naru hear it last night?" To the brown-haired girl's surprise, everyone else either produced blank looks or shakes of their heads. Lin frowned. "You certainly didn't say anything yesterday."

Takigawa shook his head. "Naru. This is bad. Whatever it is might be targeting you."

"Or Mai," Yasuhara said.

"Or, it could have been a centralized phenomenon and as only Mai and I were in the vicinity, naturally, we were the only ones to have heard it," Naru added coldly. "For instance, we only have Himitsu-san's word that he saw _onibi_ near the onsen area. Shall we also assume that he is doomed?"

"Am I?" Yuuji enquired anxiously.

"You didn't mention that earlier," Ayako grumbled.

"I would have, but you all seem eager to push your own theories first," he retorted. Naru turned away then. "Now then, if we're all done with this pointless chatting, Ayako, go and exorcise the _onibi_ that appeared near the onsen. Takigawa. I want you and Yasuhara to go round to every camera and take temperature recordings."

The monk sighed. "You really aren't going to let last night go are you, Naru-bou?"

"Considering how you put my assistant in danger, I would say a fit punishment would be doing the tasks I set for her."

"Hai…" Takigawa muttered in gloomy defeat as Yasuhara patted him soothingly. "At least you get to work with me," he added brightly.

"Mai."

Mai, who had been in the act of sneaking away, sagged in defeat.

"We're going to examine the wall where Ishihara said the writing was."

"J-just the two of us?" she asked. Naru grabbed his coat. "Hurry up," he said as Takigawa, Ayako and Yasuhara looked on with less than healthy interest. As they exited the room, Mai turned round with an apologetic look in the monk's direction. _Sorry_, she mouthed.

"So… think they'll finally get that heart-to-heart talk?" Takigawa asked.

_15th April Tuesday 11.42pm_

"For kami's sake, Mai, will you stop pulling at my shirt? You'll ruin it!" Bou-san scolded as we stumbled around, semi-blind in the darkness. "But, I don't want to get lost," I whimpered. "And this was what they taught us to do the last summer camp."

"Well, they weren't expecting you to be exorcising ghosts did they?" he replied exasperatedly. "Keep your hands free, so you can be prepared if they attack."

"You just don't want me to spoil that shirt because Ayako gave it to you," I mumbled softly. The night was colder than I'd expected. After all, the weather forecast for Tokyo had been warm nights and I hadn't thought to bring a thicker sweater. We had been searching for the missing Yamashiro-san for over half an hour in the woods near the base, and all we'd seen so far were a couple of rats, which darted away when Takigawa shone his torchlight on them.

"This is ridiculous," Bou-san said after awhile. "If he's here, he'll have seen our light or heard us by now." "Maybe he fainted or something," I suggested. "Quiet!" he suddenly hissed. There was a faint rustling and grunting coming from behind the bushes. "What's that?" I'd asked anxiously, when a large dark shape leapt out at us. A horrid smell choked the air and I clapped a hand over my nose. The misshapen creature circled us, as if it was trying to seize us up. Even with my meager abilities, I could sense the evil aura that surrounded it. Bou-san began chanting furiously as the monkey-like creature leered at us and took a step forward on its haunches. Then, when I'd barely taken a step back, it jumped at me, teeth gnashing.

"Mai!" I heard Bou-san yell.

"Get it off!" I shrieked, as the creature latched on to my arm. As it giggled madly at me, I felt a surge of anger rush through me and I punched it right in the stomach. That is, if it did have one. The creature screeched and let go, but not before it had left several scratches on my hand. Bou-san rushed over. "Wow. That was some right hook," he said as he examined my hand carefully. "Your foot's bleeding too."

"It's only a scratch," I lied.

The monk was not convinced. "Stay here. I'll get Ayako to look at your foot. And Mai? Try not to move too much. I think it might be sprained," he said before disappearing back into the trees.

"Oh sure, and leave me alone. That's clever, Bou-san," I mutter at his retreating back.

_16th April Wednesday 12.04 am_

I limped over to where a bench was and sat on it morosely. The sound of crickets was particularly loud and I kept turning back to check that there wasn't anything going to try and jump me again. The old carousel was just nearby and I had decided to move to where it was at least a patch less creepy when I heard a soft crunch of gravel behind me. Naru! Backlit by the emergency lights of the carnival, he looked like some kind of avenging angel; only angels didn't behave like narcissistic jerks usually. He halted right in front of me. "I don't recall paying you to rest." He looked around and then seemed to finally notice that my search buddy wasn't with me. "Where is Takigawa?" I sagged into my seat. "He went to find Ayako. He thinks I strained my foot when we were attacked just now." His face darkened, and I found myself feeling a stab of pity for Bou-san, who would probably have to deal with a furious Naru later. "Why are you here?" I ask to distract myself from how Naru was now kneeling directly in front of me and examining my left foot intensely. "You ran out so fast that I didn't even manage to ask you to distribute the walkie-talkies to the search parties."

_Oops_.

"Eheh heh, well, so now are you going to ask?" I said lamely. Naru glared at me. "Your carelessness could have jeopardized everybody's safety," he said coldly. "Sorry," I whispered.

Then, it happened again. The strange piping music and haunting melody that I heard on my first day at the park was back! I leapt up so quickly that I nearly whacked Naru in the face with my knee. The carousel had started up again and believe it nor not, but the horses' eyes were glowing. Then, as the ride made another turn, I saw a black figure wrapped around one of the horses. I squeaked and latched onto Naru. "That's the thing that attacked me," I cried. The creature chattered madly and clambered to the top of the carousel where it began whistling in an eerie likeness to the pipes. So, well, at least Naru was right about the highly-trained monkeys being the culprits, I thought as the creature's whistling came to an abrupt halt when it realized that it had an audience. With an angry hiss, it leapt over us, barely scraping my head before lopping back into the trees.

"We should go back," Naru said finally with a look at my still bleeding foot. I nodded eagerly, glad for the excuse to return to the safety of the resort lobby, but when I tried to walk, a pain shot through my foot like an electric shock and I sat back down again. "Hey, Naru, I don't think I can walk," I said timidly. He lifted my foot to check and I blushed as his cool fingers probed the wound gently. "It doesn't seem to be sprained," he said.

"Oi! Naru! Are you proposing to Mai's foot?"

Takigawa had returned along with Ayako. Naru let go of my leg hastily and I winced again. Stupid jerk, I grumbled inwardly.

"You left an injured team mate with an unknown spirit nearby," he reminded Bou-san icily. At least, the monk had the grace to look apologetic. "Ah, well. The base is only a short distance from here, and I didn't think there would be a repeat attack so quickly."

Ayako rolled her eyes. "Sometimes, I wonder if you were dropped on your head as a baby."

"Well, now that you've mentioned it, there was once when…"

Naru quelled the imminent argument with a stern glare before issuing yet another command. "Take Mai back to the base. We'll regroup there."

_8.25 am_

I had thought that given the embarrassing outcome of my confession last year, Naru and I would never even be able to work together in the same way again. I was clearly mistaken. If anything, it felt as if nothing had changed. Naru was still Naru, my stupid narcissistic idiotic arrogant, too-smart-for-his-own-good boss, and he remained acting like one. To get to the patch of wall where the writing had appeared, we had to pass the carousel. Now that I was looking at it in the morning light, it hardly looked as threatening as it had the night before. However, Naru, being Naru, just walked past nonchalantly, as if neither the creature nor the music happened at all.

"According to Ishihara, Yamashiro Takeshi was last seen at about 11.30 pm. Yasuhara and Takigawa passed by this way at about midnight, when there was nothing at the wall. Himitsu and Ayako then passed this way again half an hour later, when the writing had already appeared," Naru explained when we had reached the wall. I shuddered. The short message, "Beware the Master!" had been scrawled on in blood, which was already gathering a thick host of flies that buzzed sickly as we approached.

"Nice attraction for the park don't you think?" a voice sneered. Three men had walked out of the morning mist and as the tallest of the group approached, I saw that he had a tattoo on his face in the shape of a black crow-like bird. The other two had vivid neon coloured hairdos and wore identical smirks. "Morning." The first man lit up casually. "Nice to see that we've admirers of our artwork so early," he said as the two lackeys snickered. "Tell your boss that it won't just be bloody writing the next time," His lips spread in a wide grin. "It'll just be _blood_."

"Yeah."

"Lots of it."

"Mai, stay back," Naru said.

"Oooh. Scary." The three of them taunted. The one with the tattoo on his face stepped forward. He was evidently the leader. "This park is public property." Naru continued calmly. "If you don't leave now, I will have to report you for vandalism."

One of the neon haired men began closing in on me and I found myself unable to escape while the other two faced off with Naru. He shoved me back against the wall and I whimpered when my shoulder cracked loudly against the bricks. Though my view of Naru was blocked, I could hear punches and kicks. "Naru!" I yelled. There was a metallic flick of a knife and something cold pressed against my face. "Shut up," the green-haired man snarled.

"Shibuya-san! Mai!"

"John! Masako!"

John went to where Naru was standing, slightly bruised looking but alive. "Let them go," he said in a tone that I'd never thought I would hear coming from the mild-mannered priest.

"Or you'll what?" tattoo-face sneered. "Blow me away?"

Masako drew herself up. "No. But I have two trained bodyguards beside my car who will be very glad for some exercise," she stated flatly. The two bodyguards were walking over. "Hara-sama, is there a problem?" one of them asked. The three _yakuza_ members were clearly outclassed. Naru, on realizing that there wasn't going to be any trouble for now, began walking away.

"Yeah, that's right. Walk away while you still can, pansy boy. The next time round, it won't just be you that gets hurt." With cat calls and whistles, the three of them retreated. I watched Naru quietly wipe away the blood from his cut lip.

_9.32 am._

Back at the base, Lin hovered anxiously over Naru as Ayako examined him. "It doesn't look too bad," Ayako said eventually. "Well. I never thought I'll see the day that you'll get into a fight like a normal teenager," she said. Naru, who had so far steadfastly ignored their ministrations, didn't even bother to look up from his file. "At least we now know the words on the wall were the work of the local yakuza," he said. "Akio-san. Do these men have a reason to harass your workers?" The site foreman shrugged. "Our history with them has never been pretty. They were here first, and the first thing we did was to get them off the property recently acquired by the owners. They've been here on and off since."

"The vandalism?"

"We found and removed graffiti on at least five occasions and caught one of the _yakuza _members in the act once since we began laying the foundation late last October."

"What was the subject of the graffiti?"

Akio-san looked at his co-workers. "I believe the last time round, it was a picture of some kind, a bird I think." Toriame nodded. "Yes, we didn't think very much of them then, since we believed it was the work of a local gang." Ishihara snorted. "Cynics. That's what the whole lot of you are. The Master won't be pleased if you talk about this now to strangers."

"Well, I say the risk is worth a shot, if we find out why or what is disrupting our work." Toriame replied and smiled at Naru. "What do you make of the writing?"

_9.45am_

Once again, I noticed how Naru seemed to be favouring Umeko-san. Not that I blame him or anything. She really is a lovely lady even if she totally outclasses me. As he leaned towards her to explain some detail in the picture of the writings, he seemed almost more relaxed. "Why do you believe that ghosts are behind at least some of the writings?" Naru was asking Umeko-san. The lady lowered her gaze. "I believe that there are some things in the world that cannot be explained by science or logic," she said. "And the footage that had been caught on the park's cameras shows the writing appearing on their own."

"Be that as it may be, I still do not sense any malicious spirits anywhere in the park's vicinity," Masako said with a hint of a challenge in her voice. Umeko smiled gently. "Perhaps we ought to wait till the technicians finish with the final checks of the control room before we discuss this again. What do you think, Shibuya-san?"

"I agree with Toriame-san. A medium's abilities may fluctuate and there are still the _onibi_ that Himitsu-san saw." Naru said after a short while. "We will meet again in an hour's time at the control room. Mai, you will stay behind and start packing this list of equipment that I will require to be moved to the control room."

As Masako rose to leave, she spoke to me. "Mai. I suggest that you don't let your guard down around Toriame." And with that she glided out of the room with the rest of them. _What's up with that_, I wondered as I began assembling the equipment into an empty cardboard box.

* * *

_Author's notes: An extra long chapter for the wait! Do remember to drop me a review!  
_


	4. Chapter 4

Fortune's Wheel

Chapter 4: And They Came Falling Down Again

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of _Ghost Hunt_.

_12.40 pm_

While I had not forgotten Masako's words, I was also sure that she, like me, was only experiencing a pang of jealousy at any female who even had the remotest bit of Naru's attention. Now, however, I was wondering if there _was _something more to Umeko-san when even John Brown began outwardly displaying admiration for her. He'd blushed and stuttered when she asked if he found the packed lunches that she'd made tasted alright. And, when she got up from her chair, he followed her to the kitchenette in the staff area. Masako was clearly not amused. "What did I tell you," she hissed when we were alone in our room after that. I shrugged non-committedly.

"She's nice," I said evasively. Masako snorted in disbelief.

"_Nice_ doesn't count. There's something wrong with her. I can sense it," she said stubbornly.

"Sense what?"

Masako's eyes clouded and she lowered her gaze uncertainly. "It's more like what I can't sense," she said at last. "Usually, I don't see people's auras like I can for spirits. It's more like a feeling, or sensation, like anger, or sadness that I can feel. But, for Toriame, I don't _feel _anything. At all."

"Hadn't you better tell Naru then?" I asked. "It could be that there's some spirit that's blocking your senses," I said, remembering how Masako had described the spirits in the Yoshimi case as being "hollow".

"He'll dismiss it the same way as before. And Mai, whatever it was that attacked you last night didn't leave a trace either."

There was a knock on the door and Ayako peered round it with a frown. "There you are! We were supposed to gather in the control room five minutes ago. Hurry up, or Naru's going to blow a fuse again," she nagged as we both got up hastily.

_12.57 pm_

As we approached the control room, I was again struck by the immense beauty of the Ferris wheel. It glittered in the noon sun like a delicious silver lollipop and I smiled when I envisioned what it would feel like to be looking down at the world from the top of the ride.

"Impressive, isn't it," Umeko said, as she waved us over, a broom and file tucked under one arm. As Masako hung back with a sour glare in the other lady's direction, I ran forward. "Is everything ready yet?" I ask. She ran a hand through her luxurious raven black hair and smiled. "I think Naru's looking for you."

"Oh no…" I moan as I ran up the spiral staircase two steps at a time and arrived panting on top.

"You're late. Go and take the temperature recordings for the souvenir shop and the Haunted House exhibit in the old rides site."

"What! But I just got up here!" I cried.

"Got up here _late_," Naru corrected smugly.

"And you missed a very interesting video footage of the carousel from last night while you were downstairs." Yasuhara added.

"Really? What did you see?" I ask curiously. To my surprise, the rest of SPR broke off into sniggers while Naru glared at them pointedly.

"Oh, let her see it for herself," Takigawa said amidst guffaws from the others.

As I hovered uncertainly between Naru's icy demeanor and the rest of the team, Yuuji winked before pressing a button on the control panel. The main screen lit up. To my annoyance, there had been one of the carnival's security cameras mounted on a lamppost near where I'd crashed out of the trees. As my screen self hopped to the seat cursing and swearing stupidly, Ayako sniggered again and even _Lin_ smirked. I shot them a poisonous glare. Then, Naru walked into the camera's space and proceeded to kneel _in front of me_. From the angle of the camera… it looked highly suggestive. Naru shut his black file with an angry snap and Akio-san and Yuuji jumped guiltily.

"Ah, yes. Mai-chan. I think you'll better get going to where you've to be…" Akio-san said with a kindly smile at me. I flushed beetroot red and scooted out quickly. Behind me, I could hear the beginning of one of Naru's notorious dressing downs…

_1.13 pm_

Grumbling to myself, I sauntered off in the direction of the old rides with my head held high. When I passed another one of the security cameras, I stuck my tongue out at it and glared, certain that the rest of SPR were still watching. Having taken the temperature of the shop, I stepped out again. To my surprise, the sky had darkened the short time I was there and I walked quickly towards my second destination. A drenching was the last thing I wanted…

On reaching the Haunted House, I stomped in grumpily; banging shut the door behind me. I had never liked haunted houses. They were so cheesy and the customers were always jostling and giggling or trying to scare each other. The camera was right where I left it, and I went towards it, still muttering to myself. Dumping the clipboard on top of the fake mummy, I tapped my foot impatiently as I waited for the thermometer to do its job. The interior of the haunted house was musty with disuse and I sneezed loudly. The thermometer bleeped loudly and I nearly dropped it.

Eh? The recording was 16.6 degrees. I shook the thermometer irritably. If it was as cold as the reading claimed the room to be, I would be freezing in my tank top already and yet I didn't feel any different. Then, the entrance clicked shut and I heard a chattering sound behind me. The mummy creaked and rose to its feet. As I stood rooted in shock, a matted humanoid figure peeked round the mannequin. That ape from yesterday was back! This time I stood my ground.

"Rin! Tou! Pyo…!" I began chanting, but the creature only laughed. _Why wasn't any of the chants working_, I wondered frantically, remembering that Bou-san's hadn't been that effective the day before either.

"Zai! Zen!"

As the small force that the chant produced launched the creature back a few paces, I seized the opportunity to flee down the only other exit. There was a loud crash behind me and I knew that I was being followed.

_1.48 pm_

"So. Does this mean you've given up on Yamashiro then?" Ishihara demanded furiously.

"Calm down," Toriame Umeko said. "I am sure Shibuya-san has his reasons. Let's hear them," she said with an encouraging look at the young man before her.

To the rest of the room, Naru appeared to be doing nothing more productive than nonchalantly twirling a pen between his fingers, an act that did not endear him in the least to the furious KokuGin employee. "There is no use searching the entire compound again. If Yamashiro could be found by human means, his whereabouts would have been discovered already. The presence of _onibi _and the creature last night may point to a supernatural hand in his disappearance."

"_May_?" the man shouted. "It's obvious the spirits got him!"

"Ishihara!" Akio Mamoru barked with sudden vehemence. "Shouting will not help us find Yamashiro! Either start helping us to look for the missing footage from last night or go cool that hot head of yours in a bucket!" As the younger man sulked in a corner and everybody drifted back to their work, Lin sprang up from his seat suddenly.

"Mai's gone!"

_2.43 pm_

"We'll begin the exorcism," Naru spoke curtly into the mike at the control room. John Brown eyed the weather beaten façade of the haunted house uncertainly. "Are you sure?" he asked into his ear mike.

"Yes," came the stiff reply in spite of the voluble protests from the monk and miko.

The young priest took a deep breath and then opened his Bible carefully.

"In the name of the Father that art in Heaven…"

There was an anguished roar from inside and the entire exhibit shook.

"Don't stop," Naru snapped sharply when the priest paused.

"But, it might come down any time soon," John protested.

Naru closed his eyes and sighed heavily before speaking again. "The point of this is to distract whatever is in there. We need to give Mai time to get out," he stated as calmly as he could before turning to where Yasuhara, along with the KokuGin workers were upturning boxes and clicking frantically through the computers. "Well?" he asked.

The university student and Yuuji shook their heads wordlessly as they rifled through yet another cupboard. Toriame frowned. "This is strange! I could have sworn that the blueprints for the older rides were here." The young boss of SPR stood up suddenly and slipped on his coat.

"Just where do you think you're going?" Lin demanded, though he clearly realized what Naru was planning on doing.

"How're you going in there?" Himitsu Yuuji protested. "All the doors are stuck and it's a virtual maze in there! Without the blueprints…"

Cold eyes bored right into him. "I am perfectly aware of the dangers," Naru said and glared both men into backing down.

"Time is running out."

As he strode towards the door, the medium and Toriame both spoke up.

"I'm coming too," they both announced.

_2.52 pm_

"I don't see why you have to come along!" the medium said frostily. "Naru. She's a _normal _person and will just get in the way."

"I am the chief designer for the new amusement park. I have a perfect right to be where buildings have become a concern," the older woman pointed out.

Masako glowered at her. "If anything happens to Mai…" she warned and then suddenly clapped a sleeve to her nose before sinking weakly to her knees. "That aura… it's disgusting," she winced.

"Masako!" Ayako yelled from where she was standing by the shaking structure.

"Stay where you are and finish the cleansing ritual," Naru ordered sharply as he helped the trembling medium up.

As the other three members of SPR moved back to their positions reluctantly, Naru walked up to the door which was trembling violently. He placed a finger to the door. "So. The doors that won't let anybody in," he murmured to himself as if quietly amused. "Let's see if you can stop _me_."

_2.54 pm_

There was a sudden loud bang again. This time round, it sounded much further away, and if I was right, probably from the front door. I pressed myself flat against the wall behind me and tried not whimper or sneeze. "Somebody… please… come find me," I whispered. My hands were dripping in blood again, no thanks to the _thing_ that had attacked me again. As I wiped some of it down my skirt, I noticed that the creature had stopped trying to break down the metal doors of the cabinet I had currently locked myself in. It's long hairy claw-tipped arm slid back out through the gap it had made in the door and it growled softly.

Then, suddenly, the creature flew backwards violently, and I heard it slam against the wall with a sickening thud. There was a short silence, and then the doors were yanked opened. Naru stared at me. "Hurry up," he said, reaching in and yanking on my arm. "The building might come down any time soon." But just then, a heavy beam fell into the middle of the room and instead of pulling me out, Naru climbed into the cabinet too. "What…" I squeaked, as something tumbled from the shelves and Naru stepped on it with a loud crunch.

"Too late," he breathed as various objects began flying and shooting off the walls by themselves.

"What's going on," I demanded. Naru leaned back.

"We happen to be caught in an exorcism ritual," he stated as if that was the sort of thing that happened to him on a daily basis.

"Eh? Exorcising what?"

Naru held up the fragments of the object he had stepped on. It was a skull… or what was left of it. I gagged.

"This fellow, and his friends on the shelf which you are leaning against."

Turning to my other side, my eyes nearly popped out of my head at the sight of the mound of skulls piled right next to my nose. I screamed then.

"Mai! Stop! You'll bring the whole…" Naru's admonition was lost in a cloud of dust and dull crashes when the room collapsed wholesale and everything went black.

_3.20 pm_

"So, am I to believe that Mai-chan's screaming _brought _down the exhibit?" Takigawa shot the brown-haired girl an incredulous look. "You should have been there," Naru retorted coldly as Mai blushed. "I'm just glad the two of you made it out alive," John said in relief as Ayako finished bandaging Mai's arm again. The miko frowned. "I don't quite understand. Do you mean to say that these spirits have been hiding in this one exhibit all this while?"

"They were not hiding," Naru said as he poked about the rubble thoughtfully. "They were locked up in there." Dangling from his fingers was a crumpled and tattered bit of a talisman.

* * *

_Author's notes: Ah yes. Toriame Umeko is pretty fascinating. Unfortunately, not much of her in this chapter... ;) And yay for hinty NaruXMai moments... Do REVIEW please! (and I said please unlike a certain protagonist)  
_


	5. Chapter 5

Fortune's Wheel

Chapter 5: A Brief Respite

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of _Ghost Hunt_.

The rain was pouring heavily. In an isolated half-constructed amusement park that remained littered with old, defunct rides situated side by side with newer, glossy ones, a lone figure was shifting through shards of wood and plaster. His shoes, once shiny and black, were being ruined by the accumulation of mud and debris piling around the collapsed building. Kazuya Shibuya, or Naru, stood up under a large ebony umbrella, yet another piece of wood dripping rain in his other hand. He walked towards a patch of ground nearby where another man was waiting. This one, who appeared to be in his early twenties looked on solemnly as Naru fitted the large piece of (what used to be) flooring onto a gathering jigsaw puzzle of wooden pieces where a stained and scraped etching was beginning to emerge. The two men stepped back to examine their work.

"We can stop here," Naru said. "I've enough evidence to work on what exactly we're dealing with."

Mai had never really known exactly what people had meant by torrential rain, but now she felt she did. The rain storm that had began shortly after the haunted house had buckled fell in grey icy sheets over the entire compound, almost as if it too were in sympathy for the dismal mood that had befallen the team. The collapse of the haunted house had revealed not only a fine collection of skulls, but the grisly evidence of fresh blood that suggested that the missing Yamashiro's prospects did not bode well. Ishihara had stormed out of the grounds in fury and the remaining group was now huddled in various corners of the resort lobby.

When Naru and Yasuhara walked in, they crowded round anxiously. Naru shut his umbrella in the doorway, shaking raindrops and stray petals from it before installing it carefully by the entrance. "There is no doubt. The haunted house was used in the past as a site for ritual sacrifice by a cult. No doubt, you may also attribute the stubborn presence of _yakuza_ which have been plaguing your employees and work to being ex-members of the cult," Naru said as he took a towel from Toriame and began drying his damp hair.

"I don't understand," Himitsu said. "You said that the house was used in the past. Then, why have the spirits continued to plague us till now?"

"The talismans that had been hidden in the house had been used to control the spirits," he paused. "But there are signs that these talismans and the spell circle that was carved into the floor to bind the spirits to the house have both been recently tampered with."

"Surely this means that someone has been trying to letthe spirits out to attack us," Takigawa said grimly.

"The possibility of that exists," Naru admitted. "Akio-san, I believe you should contact the police regarding the matter of the _yakuza_. They might very well be able to account for the string of murders that occurred here five years ago."

"Then, we're done here?" Mai asked.

"Not quite. But you all may consider taking the rest of the evening off. There is something I must investigate first," he said quietly.

* * *

"Bou-san!" I protested.

"Aww, come on Mai. I've wanted to try out the onsen since we arrived here. Don't tell me you haven't because I won't believe you."

I folded my arms firmly over my chest. "It's not like you're even going to be in the same bath," I argued.

"No, but you can persuade Toriame-san to…"

_Whack_.

"Oww!" Bou-san yelped as Ayako glared him.

"Pervert," she accused before sweeping past us in a fabulous russet _yukata_ that could have rivaled one of Masako's kimonos. I sweatdropped. Bou-san gaped after her.

"It's hopeless isn't it," he lamented comically before stomping off to the men's bath.

I hadn't had a _yukata_, seeing as I hadn't been told that there would have been an onsen. When I complained to Ayako, all she had done was roll her eyes and said that as Naru's assistant, I ought to have researched first. As I walked despondently back towards the lobby, Masako came out in one of the resort issue blue and white striped _yukata_.

"Where did you get that?" I asked enviously.

Ignoring my question, Masako instead dragged me to a small decorative alcove in the corridor.

"Forget the onsen, Mai. I just saw Naru with Toriame heading in the direction of the old rides."

"So?" I huffed, impatient that Masako was wasting my precious off-time, something which Naru hardly ever gave in the first place. She heaved an exasperated sigh.

"Mai, are you such a dunce that I need to _explain_ the _implications_ of what I saw?"

"Yes," I said stubbornly. Masako's suspicions were I'm sure, only just that. "She's nice."

"I'm sure Naru would have notice that she's _nice_ too," she scowled. "Go and spy on them."

Normally, I would not have needed the excuse to go stalk my gorgeous boss, but his brushing aside of my confession still rankled. And, I really wanted to try the onsen, seeing as I wasn't going to be able to afford such a luxurious one anytime soon.

"Why me? It's you that's suspicious of Umeko," I pointed out, not unfairly I felt.

"Because no one will suspect you," Masako retorted (reasonably enough) as she pushed me through a side entrance and out into the open garden.

As I was walking on the short path out, Yuuji shot past me so fast that I didn't get to see who it was at first. Surprised at the look of anger on his face, I did a double-take, only to find that he'd already gone into the building using the small entrance that I had just recently exited by. Shrugging that off, I decided that if I hurried to where Umeko and Naru were, confirmed that they were up to nothing; I could go check the staff quarters for spare _yukata_s.

However, there was nobody there. I stopped short of the gigantic wooden pile and looked around. A full moon was just rising, and I could see very clearly that there was no living soul about, except for me and the plum blossom tree that stood adjacent to the ex-haunted house; I hadn't noticed it before, seeing as the exhibit had still be standing then. _Maybe Masako was lying_, I thought, certain that the medium merely wanted the onsen to herself. As I bypassed the Ferris wheel, a shadow shifted and I saw two figures under the light of the fading sun. Naru and Umeko! Some small instinct made me duck behind the teacup ride and I settled for peeking between two giant teacups (one pastel green and one bright purple). They seemed to be discussing something. Umeko was wearing a white dress with an embroidered hem of pale pink flowers and she had a matching parasol which she had propped casually over one shoulder. As I watched indignantly, she leaned over into Naru, one hand on his neck, her curtain of long hair partially screening them.

"I thought you said he wasn't into older women," a voice whispered suddenly by me.

"Yasuhara! You- what are you doing here anyway?" I hissed, startled.

He scratched his head ruefully. "To cut a long story short, the temporary partition between the men and women's baths fell apart when Takigawa-san tried to climb over it." When I stared at him, momentarily horrified, he added wryly, "to his credit, it was because Matsuzaki-san had screamed. A cockroach had flown into her hair which of course didn't stop them from conducting _Battle Royale_ out there."

"Oh…"

"So, it seems another unholy rendezvous is happening here right now," Yasuhara commented as he hunkered down to peep between the teacups too.

"It's not unholy. And we can't know for sure what they're doing," I replied defensively, though I personally wanted to go over there and hit Naru. That, as it turned out, was the wrong thing to say, as Yasuhara beamed inanely.

"Well, to clear it up, the best move I think would be to go there and ask." Then, before I could stop him, Yasuhara stood up and waved brightly at the other two. "Oiiiii!" he yelled.

That Yasuhara! I could hit him! But there was no going back now. Naru had spotted us and he didn't look pleased at all. "What are the two of you here?" he asked when we had finished crossing the short distance to the Ferris wheel. Yasuhara hooked an arm around my shoulder and grinned broadly.

"Why, Mai and I were just taking a nature stroll. It was very productive. We spotted some rats, a catfight and even two squirrels making out…"

I winced at the terrible analogy, but Naru didn't even bat an eyelid.

"Well now…" Toriame said uncertainly.

As we stood about awkardly, Yasuhara as usual was the one with the quick replies. "I believe Akio-san said you were the chief designer for the new amusement park," he observed when no comment seemed to be forthcoming from either Naru or Toriame. She gave him a quick smile.

"Yes. Is there anything you would like to know?"

"Oh, not really; I just wanted to say that it's really quite spectacular, even comparable to the one in Odaiba."

Toriame laughed. "Shibuya-san here was just enquiring about the design specifications. Would you all like to try it?"

I didn't really want to anymore, but Yasuhara gave me an encouraging nudge. "Come on Mai. You'll have to pay to ride on it once the park opens you know…" That decided it and I stepped into the nearest cabin with a haughty glare at Naru. To my annoyance, he followed me into the dark enclosure just as the electric doors clicked shut automatically.

Of course, Naru, being the narcissistic jerk that he was, somehow managed to get the best seat while I was still deciding where to stand in the spacious cabin. I stomped over to the other side and sat down with a loud "huh".

"Mai," Naru said from where he was.

"I'm not speaking to you," I announced and went to pretend to look outside instead when what I really wanted to see was what Naru would do next. The next time I looked however, Naru had nodded off, and I realized that he looked exhausted and there were dark shadows under his eyes. I felt a stab of guilt and looked at my shoes instead. This turned out to be a bad idea as under my own tired gaze, the black shadow before me seemed to quiver and then divided into two forms, one Mai-shaped and the other crow like. The instant I yelped, Naru was awake and had come over.

"M-my shadow just s-spilt into a b-bird shape," I stuttered.

Naru looked down. "There's nothing wrong," he said after a beat. I shuddered.

"I think it was a dream. This place gives me the creeps," I said. The wheel had just past the highest mark and was now on the descending side.

Naru leaned against the opposite window. "You said this place scares you. How so?" he asked as he rested a hand on the plastic wall.

_Stop posing already_, my mind commented absently as I worked to come up with as accurate a description of what I felt. "Cold. And like a pair of eyes keeps staring at me." The Ferris wheel was slowing to a halt and the moment it did, I was already jumping out as fast as I could.

"Ugh…" I said as I went to lean queasily on the rail.

"You ok?" Yasuhara had come over. I flinched away from his hand. "Hai… hai… I'm fine," I murmured and wrapped my arms around myself for warmth. "Perhaps we should all head back," Toriame interjected. Both she and Naru were staring fixedly at me as if I had sprouted wings. I ignored them and hopped down from the banister. "_See_. I'm _fine_!"

_Some time that night...  
_

The door creaked open before me and I could feel myself stiffen at the unexpected sound. Naru must clearly be dead tired or he would have woken up by now. But no, he remained lying quite still, his breath steady and shallow on his pillow. My left hand reached out and gently brushed back a stray strand of black hair and I could feel him stir.

"…Mai?"

* * *

_Author's notes: The plot thickens! I hope this chapter came out alright. I had a terrible time writing that scene of Naru with Toriame and I'm still not quite satisfied with it even though I don't think I can improve on it anytime soon either.  
_

_And about the squirrels... that was based on a real-life situtation which I'd heard about from a friend and it wormed its way into the story while I was deciding what nonsensical thing Yasuhara would say. heh. Anyway, please bear with the extreme cliffy. I promise to update as soon as I can. _

_Till the next chapter!  
_


	6. Chapter 6

Fortune's Wheel

Chapter 6: ...Or Not

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of _Ghost Hunt_.

My other hand pressed him back onto the futon, and my knees shifted, quickly pinning his legs down. _No, no, no, no! _I screamed silently as my fingers wrapped round the cold metallic object in my pocket and slipped it out. With one motion I drove the sharp end down on Naru and I heard him gasp in pain. I was thrown backwards and Naru managed to get up, a hand to the crimson patch blossoming rapidly on his shoulder. "Lin!" I heard him yell. The whole room stank of fresh blood and I could feel my tongue licking my lips hungrily. Naru had backed into the opposite wall, a look of pure hatred on his face. My hand was raised again and against the dim light, I could see that it was stained dark red. I lurched forward on my feet again.

_17th April, Thursday 2.35am_

The door flew open so hard that it banged against the other side. Framed in the doorway was a frantic Chinese man. Taking in the sight of his injured charge leaning against the wall opposite and his young assistant with a bloodstained weapon gripped awkwardly in her hand, Lin's face paled for a moment. In the next, he'd regained his composure and summoned his _shiki_ which instantly surrounded Mai. She hissed at them but the wide grin that spilt her face into a clown-like visage never left her features.

"You'll never hurt the girl," she intoned in a voice that was hardly her's.

"Don't test me," Lin snarled harshly as one of the _shiki _left off circling the girl and dove through her. The scream this time was genuinely Mai's and she collapsed onto the floor, writhing in agony.

"_Lin_!" The tall man ignored Naru. There would be time later to deal with the emotional side of things. Right now, he needed to resolve the supernatural side first and that was what he was doing. A dark haze seemed to lift from the girl and dart away into the walls. Satisfied that the threat had gone, the _shiki _returned one by one to their master, who crossed the room to examine Naru. The young man swatted away his hand.

"_What _did you think you were doing?" he snarled in spite of his blood loss. Lin bit back his angry retort and hauled the other man up.

"Hospital. _Now_."

_2.56am_

"What happened?"

"Mai attacked Naru. With a _screwdriver_."

"What?"

"How?"

"She was possessed by a pretty violent ghost and stabbed him."

"Lin-san managed to exorcise the spirit. She and Shibuya-san have been taken to the hospital." John Brown's sigh came on as a long crackle over the phone. "Mai has a few cuts and bruises, but Shibuya-san will probably need to be warded for a longer term. The wound was quite deep, though it luckily did not damage any of the vital organs."

Takigawa frowned, his forehead a mass of worry lines. "Alright. Yasuhara and I are in a cab and on our way. See you when we get there," he said and hung up. The university student shook his head. "I thought her behaviour earlier was rather odd after the ride on the Ferris wheel. I didn't think…" he trailed off with a sigh of his own. Outside, the empty streets of Tokyo whizzed past rapidly as the two men made the rest of the trip in grim silence…

_3.27am_

Mai sat shivering on her cot as the two police men paced about the room. "I told you, I don't remember what happened," she said miserably when the taller of the two paced back to her bedside and looked down at her.

"Miss Taniyama. Attempted assault is a very serious crime. It would be to your advantage if you are shown to have cooperated with us." She buried her face in her hands in frustration.

"I _don't_ remember. Why don't you ask Na- Shibuya-san instead?" The other police man had walked over as well, and Mai eyed his cigarette in distaste.

"Who are you trying to kid? Shibuya Kazuya is still unconscious. Who knows when he'll wake up, or if he will," he drawled through a cloud of smoke. Then, as Mai was wondering why the overhead smoke detectors hadn't been activated and given the man the drenching he deserved, the door slid open and Ayako walked in. She brushed aside the two men as if they were mere flies and sat down on the bed by Mai.

"My patient is not fit to be examined by the police," she said firmly. The one with the cigarette snorted.

"Did you think we rushed down all this way to be stopped by a mere _woman_?" Ayako stood up.

"I'm wasting my time. Get out," she ordered and plucked the still burning cigarette from the man's lips and ground it out with the toe of her heel.

Sputtering indignantly, the two men beat a hasty retreat from the angry doctor and instead made for the unlabelled door on the other end of the corridor.

"Better interview this Shibuya person first then," the shorter of the two men said. His partner looked at him in puzzlement.

"I thought you said…"

"I lied. What of it? A guilty conscience is easier to work on." He smirked unpleasantly and slid back the door.

_3.49am_

Naru looked up as his door was slid back. The shorter of the men strode in and came to stand by his bed. "Morning Shibuya-san. I'm Inspector Buta from the Odaiba district police and this is my colleague, Sergeant Nezumi. We've a few questions to ask you regarding this case of assault."

"There is no case, officers. I suggest that you occupy yourselves with more important tasks than this."

"You were clearly assaulted. If we do this right, we may even push for a case of manslaughter." Naru had heard enough. He shut _Hauntings in Japan _with an audible snap. The inspector twitched.

"I am _not _pressing charges. I thought I made it quite clear to the front desk that it was an accident. If not for my assistant whom you are accusing, I might have bled to death," he stated frigidly. "Now, gentlemen, if you would show yourselves out; visiting hours are most definitely over." The police knew they had lost. With heavy reluctance, they backed out sullenly, still muttering in dissatisfaction. Things were definitely taking a turn for the worse and Naru frowned after them. The first thing he would need to find out was _who had informed the police_.

_5.32am_

The carnival grounds stood as silent as it had been. Not even the mildest breeze stirred the air which seemed choked with the heavy sense of anger… The leaves of the plum tree quivered as a dark shape alighted amongst its slender boughs and cackled at the woman standing beneath it.

"That was uncalled for. What has she done to you?" A pair of inhumanly luminescent eyes glowed at her and the creature chattered in a stream of clicks and squeaks. She shook her head slightly. "The police are involved now. I hope that makes you happy." As if agitated by her words, the creature shook the tree and gestured angrily. Toriame flinched. "Stop that you fool. You know very well who you are dealing with." The ape-like creature merely giggled before jumping onto a higher branch.

"You don't scare me," it hissed hoarsely, "not when the master looks after me." Grinning maniacally, it looked up with an almost gentle reverence at the Ferris wheel…

_5.33am_

When I woke up again, everything was pitch-black. The sedative that Ayako gave me must have worked because when I checked my watch, the time was just three minutes after half past five and I had no recollection how I'd spent the last two hours after the police had left. I sat up on my bed and stretched. That was when I saw Gene sitting calmly on a chair next to my bed. He hadn't immediately noticed that I was now sitting up though, absorbed as he was in a book. _Okay_, I thought; _maybe I wasn't as awake as I had earlier thought_.

"Hey," I said and waved a little. Gene looked up with a smile. There was no mistaking the relief in his eyes.

"Mai! I was wondering when I'll even have gotten the chance to speak to you." There was a note of urgency in his voice which I come to understand as Gene's way of hinting that there was something seriously amiss.

"Have you been trying to contact me?" I ask, realization dawning on me that he had been waiting for longer than the time since Ayako's sedative had taken effect.

"Something, I'm not sure what, has been preventing me from speaking to you." As I processed this new piece of information in grim silence, he sighed a little. "Tell Naru it's not what he thinks it is," he said as he placed a hand lightly on the glossy page of his book. It was my turn to sigh.

"No offence, but could you be a little less cryptic? I'm involved in this too." Gene chuckled.

"I don't usually operate by proxy, but once the both of you leave this hospital, I can't be sure I'll be able to speak to you again. I need to make sure that whoever has been preventing me so far will not be able to understand either." He leaned forward and enfolded me in a comforting hug. I blushed and wondered what Naru would feel about his dead twin hugging me like that. _Probably nothing, that cold fish_. Gene seemed amused.

"You-you heard that!" I huffed.

"Well, this is the world of dreams after all," he grinned. "Now, you better go. I can sense visitors in your room." I frown. This conversation wasn't over yet and I protested.

"But, what if I don't get to hear from you again?"

"I'm sure you'll find a way to. Promise me you'll keep yourself safe." I nod. Already, my time in the dream world was up and my vision was fading rapidly as the figure of Gene seemed to recede into the background.

"You take care too." With a last wave, she faded gently back into the dark fabric around him. For a moment, he was surrounded by blankness and then another vision swam slowly before him. Noll had always been terrible at channeling dreams but asleep as he was now meant Gene could at least watch over him even if he couldn't communicate with his twin. Noll was lying on the hospital bed with his book still propped up, eyes closed and a slight frown creasing his forehead and Gene couldn't help smirking a little.

"You idiot scientist," he said fondly as he reached a hand out to him. "How long will it take for you to realize that she has never loved me?"

* * *

_Author's notes: Phew! What a long wait! This chapter is slightly shorter than usual but I thought I had better get it out anyway rather than leave it hanging. (I do know that it is still hanging.) Unfortunately, I will be unable to update this fic anytime soon as I have other commitments. That doesn't mean I won't ever get back to it, just that it'll be awhile yet before I do._

_Thank you for your reviews and for being patient! _

_Autumn Nightmare: Yes, I am a staunch believer in Naru's pride getting him into trouble =p The dialogue and characters are spot on? Thank you for saying so! (It's reassuring to hear that my portrayal of them has not gone off even after 5 chappies)_

_flamegirl5500: Toriame being mysterious as usual in this chapter. What do you think she's up to? Any guesses yourself?_


	7. Chapter 7

Fortune's Wheel

Chapter 7: Monsters and Other Things

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of _Ghost Hunt_.

_6.45am_

Naru awoke with a start. He could have sworn that for a moment he'd sensed… Frowning, he turned absently to face the door only to see that Masako was standing in the doorway, a hot water bottle in hand. Her large dark eyes fixed thoughtfully at the space just above his head before nodding to him. "Naru, you're awake. How are you feeling?" she asked as she placed the flask on the table by his bed. He leaned into his pillows and looked up at the ceiling.

"Do you sense anything in this room?" he asked finally.

The medium shook her head. "For a while I thought I did, but there's nothing now. Hospitals do tend to be the repositories for too many memories," she said. Naru had a folder out and clearly his attention was waning. Masako sighed. "Tell me. What were you doing with Toriame at the Ferris wheel while everyone else was at the onsen?"

Naru didn't even bother to look up from his file. "Does it bother you?" he asked.

"I don't care if _you_ throw yourself into danger but if you get Mai into trouble over that woman, I won't forgive you."

He stared at her in surprise. Any reference to Mai usually got Masako upset and she was now defending her? On a slow day at the office he would have been intrigued but today was not one of them.

"You can think anything you want," he said irritably, not quite in the mood to deal with any of this. He had been _stabbed_ for somebody's sake.

The door slid open again, this time revealing Ayako and Takigawa. "Oops, sorry. Were we interrupting something?" Takigawa asked and earned himself a warning glare from the miko who had seen Naru's black look.

"What do you want?" Glad for the momentary distraction, Naru quickly swallowed his anger and tried to be civil. Masako watched him coolly but didn't attempt to speak again.

"We came to check on our favourite psychic of course," Ayako said drily. "What else?"

"I'm fine," Naru said shortly.

He turned a page of his book, the sound it made crackling sharply in the silent room. Looking up, Naru found the three of them to be staring at him expectantly. He sighed and replaced the file on the side table.

"Why are the two of you really here?"

Ayako and Takigawa had the grace to look sheepish. "We were going to come look in on you anyway," Ayako said as Takigawa grinned ruefully.

"Don't get me wrong. But Lin kicked us out of...oww!" he winced suddenly.

This might get interesting. Naru leaned forward and steepled his fingers in front of him. "Well? Do I want to know why Lin is in Mai's room?"

_7.03am_

Lin is sitting in the chair next to my bed.

"Would you like some tea?"

Lin continues to stare at me.

"I know it's not as nice as the sort at SPR but it's really passable. Heh heh," I babbled when he didn't react at all. "I know you prefer oolong but the green tea is just as good too." I shift over to reach for the flask. There was a loud scraping sound as the chair got pushed back when Lin stood up.

"Taniyama-san. Please get back into bed. I will help myself if I wish for a cup."

I sit back down defeated. Lin didn't get back into his seat however. He towered over me and I remembered why no one messed with Lin. _Ever_.

"Lin-san. Are you angry with me?" I ask timidly. To my surprise he looked shocked.

"Of course not!" he growled, aghast. Then just as abruptly he bowed stiffly. "I am sorry I hurt you last night. Naru –

I shook my head. "But, but… It's my fault Naru's hurt," I said in a small voice, trying to hold back the pressure behind my eyes. I felt a warm hand on my head.

"Have I ever blamed anyone for what they did while being possessed?"

"No…" I sniffled, remembering the other time when Lin had sat by bed side. It had been Christmas. But Naru hadn't been injured then and I knew how seriously Lin-san considered his job of watching over him.

"But I could have tried harder! I could see and hear everything that was going on!" I protested between wiping away my tears. The words just wouldn't come out properly. How could I tell him that I feel so helpless just _watching_ them get hurt because of me? Lin patted me awkwardly.

"Your concern for us is admirable." he said kindly. "If anything, we should be the ones apologizing. Naru knows the consequences of having the greater ability to hurt others…as do I. Would you forgive me for causing you hurt?"

He looked so distraught that I couldn't help snorting.

"…What is it?"

I giggled quietly again. "It's just funny how we always end up apologizing to each other and making a mess out it," I said.

"_Almost_ a mess," he corrected with a brief smile of his own. "Shall we go see how Naru is doing then?"

Minutes later, we were standing inside Naru's room. As Lin crossed the room to pick up the files, Naru smirked. "You idiot," he said simply. Lin glanced at him sharply. "If you tell Mori-san _anything_, I will tell her that it was you who played that vanishing cupboard trick on her." Naru's smirk quickly vanished and I giggled.

"How're you kid? Holding up alright? Takigawa asked and ruffled my hair. I nod. Naru glanced at me and I looked away hastily. Just being in the same place as him was making me remember how his skin had felt against my hand. It had been warm, _so warm_ and with a delicious scent of blood running through the veins under it. I shudder, wrapping my arms around myself. _No_, _I shouldn't be remembering things like that_.

"Mai."

I jump when Masako laid a hand in concern on my shoulder. "I-I'm fine," I said and look down at my own hands. "Just remembering…" I could feel Naru staring at me but I didn't dare look up to confirm.

"Oh yes, that reminds me… Monk, you were supposed to drive me out to get groceries weren't you?" Ayako announced suddenly.

"Since when?" Takigawa protested as he was dragged out of the room forcibly.

Lin coughed and then departed without another word. Masako drained her tea. She got up as well and after staring pointedly at Naru (who pretended he hadn't seen), slid shut the door after her. These people couldn't get any more obvious and I rolled my eyes. A sigh made me turn back to look at Naru and to my surprise a brief smile flickered across his features before being replaced by his usual cool expression as he bent over his file.

Was it my imagination? I waited a few seconds to see if he would smile again but all I saw was a head of black hair, the back which was sticking up untidily.

"Ne… Naru?"

Five minutes later, with no reply forthcoming, I realized that I was being ignored. I huff noisily, blowing strands of my untidy fringe out of the way. Naru looked up with a frown.

"Stop playing with your fringe. It's distracting."

"Isn't it basic courtesy to speak to the only other person in the same room as you?" I retorted.

To my annoyance, Naru smirked. "Not when the other person is irritating."

_Arrogant idiot_… I had been pouting when I noticed the few spots of rust on his yukata where blood had seeped through his bandages. His wound must have been quite deep and I wondered guiltily if it was going to leave a scar.

"About last night…" I said quickly, my heart suddenly beating erratically.

"I apologize."

_What_… I blink owlishly at him unable to believe that he had somehow managed to outmaneuver me to an apology first yet again. "What are you apologizing for? You're more badly hurt than I am."

"It was irresponsible of me to use PK. You hit the other wall, don't you remember?" he answered, blue eyes averted sulkily. Typical narcissist! I can feel heat rushing up to my face. Funny how I hadn't remembered being hit, but at least this explained why my back had been aching and I had a large purple bruise on my elbow. My thoughts had been so much on how Naru would react to last night that I hadn't really thought about myself.

"What I do remember is hit- I mean, _sitting_ on you," I corrected hastily. Naru raised an eyebrow. "I would have thought that was to your advantage," he said smugly.

"_How_ is that to-to my advantage?" I flew up from my chair agitatedly. "You narcissistic jerk! Can't you see I'm sorry too!"

Naru looked unimpressed. "And is this how you speak to someone you're apologetic to? The hospital is no place for flirting."

_Why that_… I was so furious that all I could do was gape at him with my mouth open.

Naru had taken a sip of the tea. He grimaced. "Mai?"

"_What_?" I managed to growl, my face heating up involuntarily again.

He smirked.

"Get me some tea. And this time, you brew it."

_10.15 am_

I was feeling slightly mollified after making the tea. Naru had accepted it along with my apology without any further ado and was probably sleeping in again after the nurse came in with a fresh round of sedatives. I swung my foot idly. Most of the hospital patients weren't up yet and I savoured the warm morning light and the remains of breakfast in the empty garden while waiting for Bou-san and Ayako to bring back the groceries. There had, it seemed, really been some things to buy after all. It felt good to be outside again. I stretched out my hand letting the streams of light and shadow play between my fingers. Sunshine! It felt like ages since I even saw that.

_Round and round and round we go_

_That for no crime other than your high chivalry_

_All in thy bed they slew on a morrow_

_And out of happiness bring men to grief_

I leapt to my feet._ What was that_? "You won't escape," a voice whispered. It was like the chattering sigh of dead leaves. "Who is it?" I yell, jumping up from my seat.

"Miss Taniyama."

I whipped round. It was the police officer from last night. "Did-did you hear that?" The man stared at me out of pale eyes. "Hear what?" he drawled. "The inspector would like a word with you." I stared at him uneasily. Something told me it wasn't a good thing to follow this man. "I'm waiting for my friend to pick me up," I said carefully.

"You won't come along? Not even if it concerns Shibuya's life?"

"You're lying! He was fine last night even though you said he was still unconscious!" The man's eyes seemed to glitter red and he made a grab for my arm. "Come along little miss!" he squeaked in a high pitched voice. "No one's going to hurt you."

I ducked as he made another grab for me and I slipped rapidly over the stone seat. He wavered for a minute when I vaulted over the low wall and into the trees at the back, but seconds later, he had followed me in. "Oi, oi. Taniyama! The woods aren't safe. Now come back out like the good little girl you are."

Like heck I would! I stuck my tongue out at him as I climbed over a series of artificial boulders. "Miss Taniyama! This is ridiculous behaviour! If you don't get back here this minute I _will_ have you arrested!"

Ignoring him, I had climbed to the top when I spotted someone moving on the other side.

"Yamashiro-san!"

_10. 23 am_

Naru picked up his folder again. The police had taken a less than healthy interest, creatures that seemed to fall more into the categories of monsters rather than ghosts or spirits appearing, employees gone missing and likely dead, his own team targeted; in a way it was thrilling, but also terrifying. He pinched the bridge of his nose as he scanned the notes he'd compiled, adding to them his latest conjectures and theories. The first thing on the list was grating enough. Akio-san had earlier confirmed that the police to whom he had reported the vandals had already came by and left earlier the day before. These two new policemen were not associated with the vandalism which made their interest in him and Mai all the more sinister. He tapped the folder impatiently. Something wasn't linking. It was clear SPR wasn't welcome but why go to all those lengths? Inspector Buta and Sergeant Nezumi. Odd names, those two – a pig and a rat; almost cartoonish. Naru sat up with a jerk, his blood running cold. Fake names?

He was out of bed in an instant, not caring that he was dressed only in a thin hospital issue yukata. The corridor outside was empty and a slight chill had descended. He flung open Mai's door. It was empty.

"Can we help you with anything, young man?"

Naru turned slowly, coming face to face with one of the two officers from earlier.

"I thought I told you that you weren't needed," he said coldly.

"You seemed to be looking for Taniyama-san. Perhaps I can point you in the right direction," the stout officer said. In the distance, a car screeched to a halt. Naru refused to be goaded. "Perhaps you can tell me why you're letting up your flimsy ruse, _officer_."

Inspector Buta lit up a cigarette casually. "Oh? The rumours were right about you being a bright bulb." He grunted in satisfaction. "Cease your investigations and leave. There will not be a second warning," he added with an unpleasant grin.

"I forgot to mention, Taniyama-san is currently in the garden, though she won't be for much longer. Good day."

Inspector Buta had barely vanished when Naru dashed to the open window. Takigawa's car was back in the driveway, but the garden as far as he could see was unoccupied.

_10.40 am_

I stared at the man in disbelief. "What are you doing here? Everyone's been looking for you!" Yamashiro-san blinked slowly at me.

"Really? That's interesting." He caught hold of me when I slipped. "You're Taniyama-san right?" he said and hummed softly.

That tune! It was that song I had heard earlier. I took in his disheveled appearance and how the pupils of his eyes were ragged and dilated. The same sinking feeling I had while being pursued by Nezumi ran through me and I shuddered. He saw me looking and smiled. I felt sick suddenly. What had I gotten myself into now? "No… you're not Yamashiro-san," I said slowly. "Who-who are you?"

He made no sign of having heard me. Then, he jerked his head, looking up to where Nezumi was making his way down the boulders too. "Aww. It's just a little mouse." Nezumi took one look at Yamashiro, emitted a frightened squawk and tried to climb back up.

"Not so fast."

He never had a chance. Yamashiro-san grabbed the officer by his neck and lifted him off the rock single-handedly as if he weighed no more than a feather before flinging him against the wall. "Good night little mouse." There was a crunch and a frightened squeak but where a man's body ought to have been was the bent carcass of a large rat, a torn piece of white paper scribbled over with a charm floating to the ground near it. I screamed, feeling bile rising as Yamashiro tightened his grip around my throat. I gagged.

"Mai!"

Someone was standing on the other side of the rocks. Bou-san?

"Let her go you monster!"

_Damn Bou-san_. I coughed; my vision fading. _Why didn't you make it back a little faster_?

_11.56am_

"Explain to me how you let it escape again," Naru said as calmly as he could.

"It was too fast! When I got there, Mai was unconscious already! When I yelled, the thing disappeared with her!" Takigawa said and bumped his head when Lin drove over a series of potholes.

They were in the van speeding back towards the amusement park again and Lin glanced at his young charge discreetly. Naru's eyes were dark beneath his unbrushed hair and his mouth formed a taut line. It was the same mulish look he'd worn when Gene had gone missing and it was an expression that Lin knew foretold trouble.

"The odd thing is, I distinctly thought I heard Mai call out Yamashiro's name," Takigawa added as he rubbed his head gingerly. No one had anticipated that attack – well why would they? The hospital had seemed safe enough.

"Who would have thought that creature would tail us all the way to the hospital. Is that even possible?" John asked as Masako stayed silent. Naru looked grim.

"My conclusions led me to assume this was a localized phenomenon," he answered and then softer, so that only Lin heard, "Perhaps I was wrong." He looked outside, eyes clouded dully. Mist was gathering, clinging to the clumps of trees. "It's pretty late in the day for mist isn't it?" he said suddenly.

"Eh?"

Naru passed them a book. "I was researching this in the office yesterday. The mountains and woods behind in this area are rumored to be the home of spirits. The theme park itself is built partly on old shrine grounds." He paused as Lin drove over a particularly large ditch and the vehicle swayed violently. _If this goes on, we're all going to be killed_, Takigawa thought. "Weather fluctuations are not unheard of in spirit sightings. But, we'll need to verify that," he said as soon as they were clear of the pothole. Visibility had diminished and Lin switched on the headlights – just in time to see that they were headed right for a tunnel partly covered in moss.

* * *

_Author's notes: The lines to the song is based off Chaucer's Canterbury Tales._


	8. Chapter 8

Fortune's Wheel

Chapter 8: Together

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of _Ghost Hunt_.

_Sorry for the long wait people!_

"Whoa."

The car screeched to a violent halt centimeters from stone sentinel that stood in front of it. A cool breeze stirred the air as Lin got out. "Stay there," Lin said to the others as Naru joined him by the side. "We must have made a wrong turn earlier."

A loud ringing pierced the air. Takigawa swallowed as he looked at his phone as if it were a ticking bomb. "Oh no. It's that miko…"

"Pick it up," Naru ordered.

"…moshi moshi?" Takigawa whispered tentatively into the phone.

"How _dare_ you leave me behind! And where is Naru! I want a word with that jerk! Leaving without a word! This is a hospital, not some hotel! He's not fit to get out of bed yet!"

"Tell Matsuzaki-san to get the necessary paperwork done and to pick up Yasuhara when he comes back from the library. They're to make their way to base as soon as possible."

Takigawa sagged into his seat. "Hai… Oi, miko? Did you hear that?"

"I'm not deaf!" she shrilled in a burst of static over the phone. "Anything else?"

"What is the weather like over there now?"

"What kind of question is that?"

"Will you just answer it?" Naru snapped.

"Hot. Blazing blue sky and not a shred of cloud anywhere. In fact, the hospital staff is complaining how it hasn't rained in a week anywhere round Tokyo. Some of them say meterological reports predict a long dry period."

"I see."

He turned to Lin. "How's the car?"

"It's fine. Didn't even hit the statue."

Naru gazed up at the tiled roof over the wall, rapidly considering their options. "We must be near the amusement park though," he said as he put his hand on the faded red paint. "It's made of plaster."

Lin shook his head.

"This wasn't on any blueprint I've seen so far."

A bird, hidden in the undergrowth cooed.

"Look guys, I don't know about you but I'm getting a bad feeling about this place. Can we go yet?" Takigawa whined.

"Hey," John said and leaned out of the car window to point to a dull strip of grey below them, "that looks like the main road back there."

_17th April, Thursday, just after noon_

When they reached the park gates, a visibly distraught Akio-san came out to meet them. "You have no idea how grateful I am that you're all back. I had thought…given last night, you might have wished to withdraw from the case."

"Even if we had considered doing so, it would be out of the question now," Naru said. "My assistant was kidnapped by the creature from the park earlier this morning."

"Taniyama-san was kidnapped!" The construction foreman sank down onto a bench weakly. "Oh dear. How did this happen?"

"We're not quite sure."

"Huh. Maybe missing one of your own people might get you to do your job properly now," Ishihara sneered from the turnstile he was lounging against.

"What do you mean by that? We've been doing the best we can!" Takigawa protested indignantly. Naru had walked past them.

"Scared?" Ishihara said. "Well you've every reason to be you brat. You probably don't even know what it feels like to lose somebody you care-

"Shut up."

All eyes turned to the small kimono-clad figure. Masako was glaring at the older man coldly. "This is not the time for arguments. We're all in this together now. _All of us_."

* * *

Takigawa whistled. "That was amazing back there, Masako. Whoever knew you had it in you?"

She lifted a sleeve to her face delicately. "It was common sense." _Mai would have said the same thing if she had been here_.

Naru, as usual unheeding of either taunts or threats had gone on ahead.

"Jeez. And here I was hoping there would be _some_ kind of reaction out of him now that Mai's gone," Takigawa said as Naru was approached by Toriame. Masako sniffed.

"I will only repeat once more that there is something strange about her."

The monk smirked. "Don't tell me you're jealous of her too?"

"Don't you think that there is something strange about her? It's too convenient that Mai got possessed after interrupting them yesterday. Surely Lin-san must sense something about her," she said primly.

Lin nodded. "I agree that Toriame is…unusual. But Naru usually has reasons for his actions."

Takigawa gaped at him. "Does that mean you don't know what the deal between them is either?" The onmyouji shook his head slightly.

"I have only the bare details. And, I trust Mai's instincts. She would have been more uncomfortable around Toriame-san if she had any ill intent towards us."

"Mai's abilities are not always stable." Masako countered.

Lin picked up some of the bags. "True. But right now our priority is looking for Taniyama-san," he said as they are trooped into the theme park again. He and Masako had barely taken a few steps when they stopped short. Takigawa, who had lingered outside and had only just caught up stared in amazement. "No way," he breathed. All the rides were operating on their own, lights flashing, metal parts whirring. The high melancholic piping tune that accompanied the haunted machines seemed to melt into the listening group's bones. Akio groaned. Naru on the other hand, looked furious.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Exorcise all the rides," he snapped as Himitsu came running up.

"Akio-san! Shibuya-san! The rides are all…"

"Way ahead of you, kid," Takigawa said with a groan as well. He was _definitely_ going to have his work cut out for him.

"Wait, Naru-bou, what are you going to do about Mai?"

Naru, who was in the act of leaving, turned slightly. "I will look through her things first. Make sure you get Hara-san to assist you."

Takigawa nodded. _You mean psychometry don't you?_

* * *

_Ugh_. My head hurt. Blinking, I looked about. "Mai." My eyes widened in surprise. "Gene? How did you get here?" He smiled softly.

"That is a question which _you_ should be answering."

I looked around blearily. It was almost pitch-black and slightly damp. A low whirring hum seemed to fill the air. Somebody touched my shoulder. Surprised, I jumped and banged my head on the low ceiling.

"Excuse me…"

It was Yamashiro-san! I stepped away from him, frightened. _So that was how I got here_. I looked about but Gene's presence seemed to have vanished.

"Sorry, didn't mean to startle you. You're with that paranormal investigation team right? Er… Taniyama wasn't it?"

"…Hai," I said, my eyes narrowing in suspicion. There was something strange going on here.

"Oh that's good! I was wondering if you would be able to show me the way out of this place?" Yamashiro said hopefully. I shook my head.

"Er. Yamashiro-san… _you_ were the one who brought me here."

"I did?" He looked flustered. "To be honest, I don't quite know how long I've been in here. My memory keeps slipping whenever I try to think back on what I was doing."

Memory gaps? Was Yamashiro-san possessed? I studied him cautiously. He was still wearing the ragged scraps of clothing that he had been earlier, but the menacing air he gave off seemed to be gone. He looked exactly like what someone who had not slept, bathed or eaten in a few days would look like.

"I'm sorry Yamashiro-san, but I don't know how I got here either," I said as I hugged my knees.

"Oi you in there! Quit jabbering to yourselves." A sudden light blazed and bounced off rough hewn rock walls on both sides. A face leered down at me between wooden bars.

"You!" I could recognize that bird tattoo anywhere. The _yakuza_ were involved?

He smirked. "Oho. It's the little miss. Too bad your boyfriend's not going to save you this time," he sneered. _Keep cool, don't let him get to you_… I tried my best to smoothen my expression.

"I don't know what you're talking about," I answered coolly. The man cackled unpleasantly.

"Did you hear that, guys?" There was a scrap in the lock and then the door swung open, their dark shadows falling onto me. The one who had spoken slammed me against the wall.

"Then, I guess no one would mind what we do next…"

* * *

_7.45pm_

When Naru arrived at the room Mai had been sharing with the others, he had to take a moment to compose himself. He slowly uncurled his fists, letting them hang limply at his side. Most of her things were probably right where she had left them last. He scanned the items briefly and then picked up the blouse she had been wearing the day before. "What do you think you'll achieve with that?" Toriame asked.

"You couldn't find Yamashiro-san with psychometry, nor did you just now when you tried." The dark-haired lady smiled as she slid gracefully onto Mai's bed.

"I can help."

Naru watched her coolly. "If I'm their target, they should have just come straight for me."

Toriame's black eyes widened slightly and she sighed. "If, at this point, you don't understand why Mai was taken, I do not see how you can save her."

He narrowed his own eyes. "You aren't the sort of person to dispense with free advice. What do you get out of this?"

"Oh my. Is this your real opinion of me?" Toriame's teeth were bared in a cold smile. "Don't tell me you weren't attracted to me at all," she murmured in a silken voice as she rose from the bed in a light rustle. She took a step towards him and with a sudden forceful move pushed him against the wall. Naru winced, feeling fresh blood seep through his bandage. "You shouldn't have taken on this case. Spirits are not to be messed with," she breathed. "And you, Oliver Davies, have a history of taking on more than you can chew."

Her hand traced his jaw lightly as she leaned in, pressing herself against him, her mouth parted slightly. He pulled her hand off, eyes cold. "If that is all you have to say to me, I'm going to leave," he replied icily. Toriame smirked as she tucked her own long hair behind an ear wryly. "How arrogant. It must have hurt, and in more than one way to be stabbed by a woman you love," she said softly as she stepped away. Naru's eyes were dark under his fringe.

She picked up Mai's blouse, careful not to touch him when she moved past his stiff frame to drape it carefully over a chair. "He'll look for you at the Ferris wheel." Her eyes never left him as he strode out of the room.

"You aren't the only ones who want this to end," she murmured.

_8.11pm_

Masako sneaked a peek at the closed door to the room she shared with the other two ladies. Naru had been in there with Toriame for what seemed like _hours_. "Pass me the dishes," Ayako said. When the medium didn't respond she sighed. "I heard you defended Naru just now."

"What of it?"

"Aren't you sneaky, doing this behind Mai's back?"

Masako glared at her. "I'm just as worried as everyone else! That man had no right to speak like that. I am merely defending our professions."

"Hai, hai." The miko smiled. "Why don't you go off for the night? I'll finish the rest of the dishes."

"But…" Masako blinked. The miko never took on any extra work without first complaining about it.

Ayako waved a dripping ladle at her. "I only said what I did because you looked like you've a lot on your mind. It's fine. Go and take a rest on the couch in the base," she said and for good measure, gave the younger girl a nudge in the direction of the door. Masako nodded curtly, not willing to admit that she was feeling exhausted. "Please inform me if anything changes," she said thankfully before leaving.

Masako had left for barely ten minutes when the door opened and Naru stormed out broodingly.

"Oh look, he's out. Naru did you find anything? Oi, Naru!"

Ignoring Takigawa, he headed straight for the door only to find that Lin had barred his way out.

"The kind of mood you're in, you're going to get yourself killed. Can't you see you're bleeding again? Matsuzaki-san!" he shouted.

Naru brushed aside the other man.

"_Naru_! It's a trap. They aren't about to negotiate. Possessing Mai was just a warning. If you go now, you're just doing what they want."

Logic and reason had never failed Naru before but right now, he would have given anything to not think about consequences or possible dangers. "I know. So get out of my way," he growled when with a clatter, Yasuhara dashed in.

"Shibuya-san!" Naru took one look at his panic stricken face and tried not to groan.

"It's Masako! She –

Yasuhara paused to catch his breath. "You better come and see for yourself," he said at last.

The words had barely left his mouth when the rest of the team burst into base where John was holding Masako up carefully, his own face wrought with worry. The medium's eyes fluttered open weakly. "Where's Naru! It's Mai! You've to rescue her. There are these men…" she broke off, gulping, her eyes smarting with tears. A chill seemed to descend over the group. Naru stood back up, his mouth slashed in a grim line. No one needed to say anything. They knew that was no stopping him now.

"Where?" Lin asked briskly. Masako was still sniffling.

"I'm not sure. It was a small place, dark and wet."

"The Ferris Wheel."

Toriame was standing in the archway of the lobby entrance. Masako glared openly at her.

"Isn't it about time you tell them who I am?" she said, her arms folded as she looked at Naru.


	9. Chapter 9

Fortune's Wheel

Chapter 9: Discoveries

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of _Ghost Hunt_.

_8.20pm_

All eyes swiveled round to Toriame and Naru had to force back his urge to use his PK to blast her into the ether.

"You never fully trusted me I think," she said with a pointed look at the medium.

Masako's chin stuck out obstinately. "No, how can I when you conceal your spiritual aura? What are you? An onmyouji?"

"Good guess, but you're not quite right."

Takigawa groaned. "Look, this is _really_ interesting but can we go rescue Mai? Naru, I'm sure you agree with me?"

"Agreed," he said crisply. "If no one objects, we'll head to the Ferris Wheel."

Lin looked as though he would have liked to object mightily but one look from Naru and he bit back any protestations that he might have added.

The way seemed unbearably long, their feet pounding slippery old gravel and getting tangled in long tufts of grass. Ahead, the Ferris wheel loomed, a gigantic silver eye that seemed to watch their every move through the gloom of a sudden fog.

"This is ridiculous. I can't see where I'm going," Ayako complained when she banged painfully into John and they both went sprawling onto the ground.

"Be grateful there's even anything keeping us concealed," Takigawa muttered as he helped her up. "I don't like the look of that wheel."

"What do you mean?"

"Can't you feel it at all? There's a horrible aura coming from it."

Naru had reached the wheel first and he climbed up onto the boarding platform. It was empty. Toriame shook her head from where she had remained on the ground by the steps.

"There's an engineer's door here," she explained, pointing to where a small door welded shut with bolts was disguised as part of the platform wall. As soon as they had broken it down with a fire extinguisher, Naru ducked in first. Water, no doubt from the ride's cooling system, dripped from pipes running overhead. This was followed by a section of pitch blackness whirring with machines which then opened abruptly into a narrow flight of steps down. Without waiting, Naru began descending it, a hand tracing the wall as a guide. In the distance behind him, he could hear Ayako complaining again.

"You've got to be kidding. What kind of ride has a secret passage attached to it? Who built this anyway…"

Her voice and the footsteps of the others gradually died away as the stairs curved sharply before ending a little while later in a small chamber lit with a single torch that flickered dully on the wall. A small whimper to the side made Naru jump. There hadn't been anyone there before.

"Please… sir…"

He took a few cautious steps forward, kneeling slowly as he peered into the shadows.

"Yamashiro-san?"

The man moaned again, clutching his head in anguish. "Don't mind me. They've taken Taniyama-san through there… Don't let them…" he coughed wetly and then smiled weakly. 'Don't let them do _that_ to her…"

"I know," Naru said, as gently as he could as he helped the man sit up, while discreetly checking for any sign of injuries. Where were the others? They were taking too long. Yamashiro-san gripped hold of his arm tightly. Something small fell out from his sleeve in his agitation and Naru picked it up.

"You don't understand… he does things to you." He laughed hollowly.

"Tell me it'll all go away..."

No wonder he hadn't been able to find him; Yamashiro had been darting about the park as a possessed monkey-creature for the past day or so. Naru set the older man against the wall, easing him back so he could lean. At least he didn't seem to be too badly injured physically. He stuffed the tattered talisman paper into his coat pocket before heading the way the older man had indicated.

_17th April, Thursday, 8.30pm_

I didn't know how long it had been since these men had me but it seemed long enough. One of them shoved me roughly so that I went sprawling onto the floor.

"Oi, oi, the master doesn't want her… dirtied," one of the men warned. Of the three hooded men who surrounded me, he was the only one who wore a mask and seemed slightly reluctant. So, at least one of this lot had a conscience. Their leader, the man with the bird tattoo on his face sneered – he had a face that seemed remarkably suited to that expression I thought wryly as he glared at the masked man.

"The old bat doesn't know a thing," he said dismissively. "Besides, he won't know if we don't leave any marks," he crooned as he ran a hand slowly down my chest before pinning both of my hands above me, grunting slightly as he did. His breath was sour and I turned my head away in disgust.

Suddenly, he gave an agonized howl and let me go. I blinked rapidly, uncertain what had happened. The other two men looked frightened, the muscles at their shoulders bunching up tensely, though at what, I wasn't sure. Then, _something_ glided out of the shadows, bundled in what looked like rags. I clutched my nose at the putrid smell that seemed to follow it. "How dare you touch my bait, lowlife," it hissed in a dry rattling way.

"M-Master!"

As one, the three of them hastily bowed, the leader trembling as the creature floated passed him. I shivered as it came to a stop in front of me. Large moon-white eyeballs goggled at me from beneath the remnants of the cloth wrapped around its emaciated body. Seeing me staring, it leered into a smile filled with sharp incisors. Strings of saliva dribbled onto my blouse. It looked like it had lost all trace of its humanity; if it had any to begin with. "Delicious…" it croaked in the same dry rattling way. Like before, I found that I couldn't really put up a fight as it bent over me. I closed my eyes. Even that _yakuza_ pervert would have been preferable to this slimy, cold creature pressing against me hungrily. And somebody ought to tell Naru that he really ought to seriously consider adding 'monster' to his repertoire.

"Let her go."

My eyes flew open. Ah. Speak of the devil, or in this case, idiot scientist. There he was, standing at the entrance wearing an expression I had never seen before. Naru, to my surprise, actually looked livid. "You have _no _idea what you have summoned. Call your master off. Now."

As if they would listen to you! I glared weakly at Naru as I struggled to get up. He glanced warningly at me across the room and then turned his attention back to the men who were huddled beneath a raised dais.

"I was under the impression that your target was me," he said.

At his words, the leader seemed to regain some of his pomposity. "We had no idea that this girl had so much spiritual power," he remarked. "Or we wouldn't have bothered with you."

"Yes, but it was very nice of you to come instead," the masked man added. "You see, our master is _very_ hungry."

The creature had dropped me and was now lurching forward unsteadily towards Naru. The air crackled suddenly and it yelped, jumping back and clutching its blood tipped fingers in injured shock. The men cried out and the leader gestured at the third man.

"Get him, you fool!" he shrieked. The man quavered, his hood slipping sweatily down.

"But… you saw what he did!" he protested.

Meanwhile, the master had been stealthily creeping towards them. With a flying leap, he brought down the frightened man. There was a sickening _crack_ and then the man stopped struggling. Dear gods… I gagged, unable to tear my eyes away. The leader was rooted to the spot, aghast.

"Your amateur spell casting has entirely corrupted your master. It's only motivation now is satisfying its hunger. I repeat. Call it off now." Naru said, advancing slowly. The leader stumbled back.

"I-I don't know how!" he cried.

Meanwhile, the man in the mask bent, whispering to the creature. "De…li…cious" it rasped, its eyes glowing hungrily in the leader's direction while fresh blood flowed in slow drips from between its wide molars. With an awful scream, the man darted away into the other entrance. The last man straightened up, brushing his robes casually as he followed him out, leaving the creature behind. Already, it looked less emaciated, as if by feeding on the dead man, it had gained new strength. It spoke again. "You will lose if you choose to fight. I can smell it in your blood. You're not healed yet."

"Do you want to risk it?" Naru replied. There was a dangerous edge to his voice. "You won't come out of it unscathed either in your current position."

The creature bobbed its skull-like head. "Perhaps…" it sighed and made to turn away meekly when its eyes flashed and it flew at Naru instead. They both went down in a heap of arms and legs.

"Damn…body…" Why can't I move? It was such an effort just sitting up and now, raising my hand seemed even harder.

"Rin…pyou…tou…sha…"

I heard Naru grunt as the monster ripped at his shirt and underneath that, his bandages. I needed to hurry up.

"Kai! Jin! Retsu! Zai! Zen!"

The blast was small but at least it was enough to get it to roll off Naru where it was for a moment, blinking and unmoving. The air crackled again and it was thrown further across the room where it lay still. Naru scrambled back up, his shirt in ribbons and kicked over the smoking brazier that had been the room's source of light. Then, he knelt down beside me and braced my back with one arm. I flinched at his touch.

"You've been drugged," he explained as his hand left my back. "I suppose I've been too. It's from the incense they burn."

I shivered, wondering how much he'd seen earlier. "We-we aren't go-going to die. Are we?" I rasped, appalled.

"Of course not," he said calmly. "Though, you're probably worse off than I am since you've been here longer."

Shuffling forward, I sank back to the ground, my legs wobbling like jelly. Naru held out his hand solemnly.

"I'm not going to hurt you Mai," he said gently. I nodded vehemently.

"I know, I know. Just give me…five seconds," I said, as I clutched my hand, trying to shut out what had happened. I took a deep breath and then let it go slowly before standing up again. "Ok," I said, and took his hand, leaning heavily on his shoulder.

Naru stumbled.

"Just how much do you eat?" he asked deprecatingly as we shuffled slowly towards the entrance.

"Not enough. I aim to eat enough to squash you flat," I retorted coldly.

Naru smirked despite the effort it was costing him to move the both of us over to the door. "It never ceases to amaze me that against all odds, you always find something stupid to say," he remarked dryly.

"It rubbed off of you," I explained sweetly.

"Really. I had no idea you were paying me so much attention," Naru said with a self-satisfied air as he adjusted my hand on his shoulder.

"Jerk." I muttered and turned away, trying not to blush.

This place was like a warren. There had been two entrances to the chamber and outside of it, the corridor split off another two ways. Naru guided me towards the stairs on the left side. "The exit's this way," he said. We had made it barely two steps when we heard footsteps above us. Naru carefully moved us around as the steps became increasingly louder. It can't be those men again, they ran off a different way, or at least that was what I hoped. I could feel Naru tense as we waited for the footsteps to get nearer.

"Look, I'm quite sure they came this way," I heard a voice say defiantly and then Bou-san crossed the threshold and into the small landing. He blinked down at us, and then broke into a relieved grin. "I _knew_ I heard you lecturing Naru-bou!" he said smugly as he gestured behind him. "Come on guys! They're here!"

Lin-san, Ayako, Masako and Bou-san came running up. Naru actually looked more annoyed than relieved to be rescued. "About time," he said coldly as he handed me to Ayako and Masako. "Where did you go?"

"We took a different turning at the stairs," Lin explained. "But we didn't get very far before we realized you never came that way as it was a dead end.

"Yeah, it was just as well that _one_ of us found Mai. Are you alright?" he asked, directing the question to me. I swallowed, going pale at the memory.

"I'm fine," I lied hastily, not wanting him to fuss over me.

Naru was giving me the oddest of looks, as though he didn't know whether to look angry or relieved while simultaneously trying to keep cool. Probably all three. "They were planning to use Mai as my substitute to sacrifice to their master," he said neutrally.

"No way!" Bou-san looked outraged and I had to smile at his protectiveness. He squatted down in front of me. "Are you sure you're alright jou-chan? Your Bou-san's here for you, you know." He reached out to ruffle my hair and instinctively, I ducked. He froze, looking upset. "Mai?"

Masako put a reassuring hand on my shoulder. "Leave Mai to us ladies," she said firmly and politely. It was a tone that broached no arguments.

"Yes, we should head back to base," Lin added, eyeing Naru's torn clothes wrathfully. Naru returned the look coldly.

"It's nothing a bath and some disinfectant and clean gauze won't fix," he answered, striding ahead of us to the stairs. We all watched him apprehensively. Then, as we had all been half expecting, he swayed, stumbling backwards and nearly hitting the ground had Lin not caught him.

"What did I say?" Lin nagged as Naru sat up sulkily, a few shades paler than his normal self.

"Where're the others?" he asked as though he hadn't just nearly collapsed. I rolled my eyes.

"I imagine they're back at base," Lin said as soon as we had all cleared the flight of steps and were back out in the fresh air outside. "We found Yamashiro and John, Yasuhara and Toriame have gone back with him."

"Good."

I was relieved too. Yamashiro hadn't looked well at all and I could really use the comfort of being somewhere safe and warm again. Looking up, I could see heavy clouds gathering overhead. "Looks like rain again," Ayako remarked worriedly as lightning forked the sky. A storm was coming.


	10. Chapter 10

Fortune's Wheel

Chapter 10: Revelations of a kind

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of _Ghost Hunt_.

_17th April, Thursday, 10.13pm_

Ayako was fussing over me, muttering angrily under her breath so quickly that all I got were snippets. "Stupid… every time… something always happens to you… can't you be more careful… _men_!" She ended with a loud snort and glowered round at anyone within glaring distance… which happened to be Naru. He merely ignored her and she tutted loudly as she packed away the rolls of bandages and antiseptics.

"Not a word of thanks I get either," she grumbled.

I breathed out as soon as she left to put away the first aid kit.

"Gee. Thanks Naru. Now everyone's fussing! You didn't have to say it out loud did you?" I was referring, of course, to how he had blurted out what had gone on in the underground chamber earlier. He put down his file, blue eyes stormy.

"I did what I believed was the best. _You_ would have just kept silent and pretended it was a walk in the park. And _don't_ deny it," he added sharply. "I saw that look on your face. You obviously didn't find it just 'nothing'." I glowered at him.

"Well _don't_ think you're getting away with kissing Toriame either!" I griped. "Professor Don't-know-when-to-shut-up!"

"Quiet!"

Lin roared from his spot in front of the computer. "Stop it, the both of you, or I'll take you off the case myself," he growled. Naru had turned ashen and two spots of colour had appeared on his face and with a visible effort, he contained his anger.

"Fine," he said shortly. Yasuhara laughed nervously.

"Ehehe… Isn't it funny that the two of you who were hospitalized were the ones who got into the most trouble?"

_No_. We both glared him down. That reminded me that I hadn't yet gone into the onsen (and it was really Naru and Toriame's fault) and I huff, sinking back into my chair dejectedly.

Lin however wasn't done. "Is what Mai said true?" he demanded. Naru turned his head slightly aside. _Just like a sulky little boy_, I thought vindictively as the room fell into a hush. Takigawa fidgeted, clearly discomfited. "Don't mind us," he muttered from the corner he was sharing with Masako, John and Himitsu.

"I never kissed her," he said finally.

"Liar. Ask him what they were doing, using her curtain like hair as an excuse!"

"_Mai_!" Lin warned me before turning to Naru. "_What _were you thinking? Hasn't Hara-san made her point clear enough? And didn't I warn yo-

To my indignant surprise, Naru's lips twitched crookedly. He looked, unbelievably like he was trying not to laugh. Lin clearly felt the same as I did about this smirking Naru. The ominous aura around him seemed to heighten. Naru raised an eyebrow and his chuckle faded.

"Look at the both of you. You're behaving as if I've slept with her," he said sarcastically.

"So, what _were _you doing?" I asked, exasperated.

Without speaking, he got up and crossed the control room in three easy strides. Before I had even time to react, he slammed both hands on both sides of my head. I twitched but remained glaring fiercely at him.

"Toriame did _this_," he hissed into my ear harshly before leaning away. I stared blankly up at him. He was wearing that livid expression again, and I flinched at how it was directed at me. "That's _all_," Naru said coldly. "I won't deny that we might have flirted but nothing happened between us."

"You mean she was _whispering_ to you?" Ayako asked skeptically when she had returned and was leaning against the doorframe, listening. My heart plummeted even as I could feel heat rising upwards. I had been mistaken...

"Yes," Naru said evenly. "So I'll appreciate if we end any unverified speculations here." I knew he was referring to me in the particular even if he didn't say so and I sighed. Masako was eyeing me worriedly. Hah – so she was feeling guilty for being the instigator. To be honest I had _wanted_ to hear it from him myself.

"Look. I'm sorry alright... I think I'll go back to bed," I mumble. "Please excuse me."

"Wait! Where're you going? Don't you want to know who Toriame is?" Ayako asked, her eyes clouded in concern as she watched me go towards the door.

_10.35pm_

Toriame watched the younger girl stalk out, a rather folorn expression on her face. The occupants in the room stiffened at the sight of her. Ayako stood up. "_Fine_. I'll go see to her then since no one else seems to care!"

The Catholic priest – Brown-san looked upset but didn't attempt to follow. The others were expressing varying degrees of guilt and embarrassment.

"Is everything alright?" Akio-san asked.

"Everything's more or less settled," Naru said, opting to defuse the situation with a vague answer related to the case instead. "The discovery of a storage chamber under the Ferris Wheel for an unidentified hallucinogen indicates the reason for the persistence of the gang – they were using the park as a storage area for their goods. Certainly, they must have been here since the time of the shrine – those underground chambers look as if they were part of the original shrine's store rooms. This can be easily verified if we look up the shrine records in the local archive."

"That doesn't explain the spirits. And you've to admit whatever that creature attacked you isn't human and Yamashiro-san or the two men from the hospital…" John said.

"I was coming to that," Naru said. "Judging from the sizeable area acquired by the theme park owners, the shrine must have been well-off. A place that large and yet cut off from the nearest community must be fairly successful if it was to maintain its upkeep."

He looked steadily at Akio. "The shrine was built in dedication to the spirits of the mountain and your company is building on a site held to be sacred to not only the humans but the spirits living in this area. In other words, you have likely displeased the spirits by not worshiping them."

Akio-san mopped his brow despondently. "Well then, how do we…appease them?"

Naru smirked. "Why don't you ask them yourself?"

_Later at night_

What a warm feeling… I open my eyes slowly, letting my eyes adjust to the darkness. There was a sweet scent to the air and I was looking about for the source of it when I noticed that a patch of black near my left seemed lighter. Somehow, I knew that I was meant to go there and I willed myself to float towards it. Then, something soft brushed against my cheek. Eh…? It was a small pale pink petal. Even as I was staring at it in confusion, more were swirling past me and dozens of the tiny flowers were scattered underfoot.

"There you are," Gene's familiar voice rang out from behind me. Looking back, I bit back a giggle at the sight of yet more pink petals stuck in his hair. He returned my smile faintly. "If it's the flowers you're laughing at, you have her to blame," he said, pointing ahead to where the lighter patch of black was. By now, I could make out that it was shaped like a vast tree… and as we got nearer, I saw that balanced on the slender branches was a rather familiar figure.

"U-Umeko-san!" I blanched. _Of course_ – her name! She was wearing a white kimono printed with plum blossoms and her long blue-black hair fanned out behind her. "Well now, we have quite a little party here don't we?" she said, smiling in amusement. "You… what _are _you?" I spluttered. Had Masako been right all along and she was some suspicious onmyouji with a grudge against us?

"I don't have anything against SPR specifically," she said and I flushed. Was my face really that easy to read? "Only because your presence here is not welcomed."

Gene, meanwhile had folded his hands sternly, which made him look a lot like Naru. "I've a bone to pick with you," he said. "Why were you preventing me from contacting my brother and Mai?"

Toriame grinned briefly. "Because that would have been meddling. In truth, we did not want outsiders here and your input would only have prolonged their presence," she explained. By 'here' and 'they' I knew she was referring not to this limbo realm but to the theme park.

"But…" I protested, "your company hired us!"

"Oh, this has nothing to do with Akio-san. He's a great boss actually, looks out for everyone," she said. Her eyes softened. "I've been doing my best to keep the hauntings to a minimum. No one was ever seriously injured you know."

I clenched my fist. "Don't tell me it was you who sent poor Yamashiro-san after us!" I cried in disgust.

"No, I do not have such power. Believe me, I would have successfully driven them away peacefully if I could but it seems I did not account for how they might have retaliated by hiring investigators instead," she said with a light shrug.

Looking down, I saw that we were now standing over the theme park where Naru had led the others to the plum tree by the cordoned off pile of rubble. "Is this happening now?" I asked. Toriame Umeko nodded. "You might want to catch your boss's explanation," she said, a quirk playing on her lips. "I imagine it would be clear up a few things."

True enough, Naru had begun one of his long lectures. "Toriame Umeko is a spirit residing in the mountains. I imagine you all would be familiar with the legend of the _yuki-onna_, snow spirits which often take the appearance of young is of a fairly similar if less well known kind, an _ame-onna _or rain spirit, currently in possession of the real Umeko's body."

Masako's eyes narrowed. "Impossible. I would have sensed it the moment I saw her."

"The reason is that she is not a ghost but an anthropomorphized entity resulting from the spiritual essence of this location. There are many myths concerning local guardian spirits. Toriame Umeko is one such being. Given that this entire area is completely suffused with residual spiritual energy from its days as a shrine venerated by locals, she would have simply blended with the background, hence the reason you were unable to read her aura."

Takigawa looked displeased. "And you couldn't have told us earlier because…?"

"Because it wasn't on a need-to-know basis."

"What?" Takigawa yelled. "Has flirting with her fried your mind? Somebody had to have set all those spirits on us! _Twice_!"

Naru's blue eyes hardened. "The evidence is right in front of you if you think about it. The yakuza in this area have been playing around with hallucinogens and the occult, a dangerous combination. Not to mention, given their history of sacrifice and murder to fuel their experimenting, the natural energy in this area has been corrupted for years already." He smirked. "And I thought Mai was the only one whom I needed explaining to."

That jerk! I jumped up, glowering indignantly as Gene and Toriame both chuckled. That's right, laugh at me.

"Didn't you guess from her name?" Naru added as he waved nonchalantly at the pink petals above him. "The plum is a traditional symbol of protection. She was merely guarding this place from unfamiliars. That of course, includes the theme park builders."

"_Definitely_ a bright bulb," Toriame said. "But at least this means I can return that poor girl her body."

"Really," I growled. "And here I was rooting for you. I'm beginning to think that my instincts are out of whack."

Gene turned to me, looking slightly puzzled. "Didn't I ever tell you that Noll had been wrong in concluding that Toriame is the one sabotaging your investigation?"

My mouth dropped. "Huh?" Gene was tapping a finger to his head, lost in thought. "Oh, I remember. I told you to tell him that it wasn't what he was thinking didn't I?" He looked slightly sheepish. "I realize I might not have been very clear…"

I slumped. "_And _you only realize it now?"

He grinned. "It's all alright now isn't it? My little brother is doing fine figuring things out on his own," he said fondly.

Little brother? Right… Naru was the younger twin wasn't he… Gene leaned casually against the bole of the plum tree. "Though I've to admit, _you_ didn't make things easy for him." Toriame Umeko chuckled.

"It isn't easy to resist my charms," she drawled. "I was hoping he got the message though. The mountains here are my home. I do not wish to be banished by a group of visiting exorcists. And it's partly his fault; your brother is pretty good at flirting. Does he have a lot of practice?"

I scowled, remembering what they had been doing under the Ferris wheel but what could I say; I'd given up on him hadn't I? Or well…maybe I haven't, not really. Toriame put a hand on my shoulder. "A man of his pedigree doesn't come by often. You should cherish him," she said with a wink. "Now, I believe it's almost time for you to wake up."

"What?" I protested. "You haven't even apologized for the way you were using us to uncover the _yakuza_ plot! Or sending those two thugs after me and Naru!"

Toriame gave me a light push. "It couldn't be helped. I can't _leave_ the shrine grounds and the hospital was just nearby. It was rather fun," she added with a slightly malicious smile. I shook my head. "Are all spirits like that? Vengeful and angry?" I ask. Gene shook his head.

"No," Toriame said, her gaze turned upwards to watch the souls float about her. "But you would be upset too if your old home is being destroyed wouldn't you?"

She was right of course. There's always a reason for everything.

"Give your friends my salutations. Especially your boss. I believe this will be the last time you'll be seeing me," she said, leaning down to whisper. "Goodbye. And for both our sakes, I hope we don't meet again."

* * *

_A/N: Yup. Nearing the end. I think there's only one chapter left (thank goodness) to wrap up any other major loose ends. Yay!_


	11. Chapter 11

Fortune's Wheel

Chapter 11: Epilouge

_Thank you very much for your reviews! They definitely kept me working on the last chapter and I apologise for not replying to reviews lately as I've been quite busy. This chapter concludes the fic and I hope you enjoy reading it!_

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of _Ghost Hunt_.

* * *

Takigawa sighed blissfully as he sank down into the water. "You have no idea how good this feels," he said.

"Ah, but actually we do, since we're sitting in the same onsen," Yasuhara replied from across the pool where he and John were already seated. "Besides, when you get to _my_ age, you'll begin to appreciate the simple pleasures of life more."

Takigawa opened an eye lazily. "You aren't that old," he protested.

They might have argued on, but then Himitsu came in. "Oh excuse me, I hadn't expected to find anybody using the bath," he said, embarrassed.

"Himitsu-kun!" Takigawa waded over. "Any luck? Did Naru-bou find anything?"

The younger man shook his head. "I was just about to look for him."

"Oh. He's in his room I think. Said he didn't want to be disturbed."

"I see…" Himitsu looked troubled. "I'll better wait then," he started to say when Takigawa interrupted him.

"Well why don't you come on in! You missed out the last time we were here!"

"Oh no, I can't…"

"Nonsense! We all deserve a rest after what happened!"

"I'm sorry, but I'll have to decline," Himitsu said, more firmly this time.

"Gentlemen…" Takigawa winked at the other two as he got out. "On three!"

"Wait! Hey!" There was a loud splash as Himitsu was thrown into the onsen. "Now you can't say no!"

"I hope he's taken a shower already…" Yasuhara whispered to John over the noise of the struggle.

"Quit playing!" Himitsu had resurfaced and was glaring at them. "I'd said I didn't want to already right!"

He climbed out of the pool, water pouring off him in buckets. Takigawa's face fell. "Himitsu-kun… are you okay?"

Himitsu was breathing heavily. "It's nothing," he snapped, flailing slightly in his dripping jacket. He bowed curtly to them. "I'll be fine."

Lin had entered the bath area. He watched the others for a second and then coughed politely after Himitsu left. "Naru says we're leaving in an hour."

"Aww no way! Akio-san said we could stay the morning!" Takigawa moaned as they all got out.

"It's almost noon," Lin stated in his usual flat voice. He didn't add that Mai had thrown a tantrum on discovering that the men were occupying the entire bath. Ever since the temporary partition had come down like a pack of cards (thanks to a certain monk's zealousness), no one had thought to replace it.

"It's not _fair_!" Mai had complained loudly to the air. Naru and Lin had been the only ones in the room then but as she was bent on not speaking to the former and the latter was prudent enough not to humour her, she soon gave up grumbling and went away to sulk instead. Lin had breathed in relief after that. If those two had quarreled again, he wouldn't have been quite certain he would be able to restrain himself from forcefully bundling them into the van before abandoning them in the woods. He'd carried out the threat once when Naru had been about eleven or twelve. Lin had been fully prepared to turn around after five minutes, only when he got back to the spot, Naru had wandered off. There had been hell to pay; Martin and Luella had both shouted at him and frantic and guilt-ridden he had nearly offered to resign, only for Naru to show up at the Davies's doorstep six hours later unscathed and smugger than ever. Such a threat had ultimately failed then and not to mention, Naru had grown quite a bit since and would disagree mightily with being manhandled.

"Go talk to her," he said eventually, unable to stand the expectant looks Naru kept shooting at the door. "She isn't going to come back in knowing you're in here."

"Who said I wanted to talk to her?" his ward muttered truculently. Lin was starting to doubt Naru's intelligence; surely that boy had realized that he cared deeply for his part-time assistant? He took a surreptitious peek at his profile. Naru was trying to appear calm and collected but there was something distracted about the way he mechanically arranged his files and sorted out the odd book or two. It was obvious to the Chinese man that he had been stung by her accusation even if the others, less familiar with Naru's humours (or lack thereof) had seen only anger. He watched as Naru tapped the table impatiently and then finally got up from the chair.

"I've to speak to Akio-san. Tell the others they should get ready to leave," Naru said.

So much for dealing with Mai. Stubborn boy. Gene, bless him, if he were here, would have sorted out his twin already without need for his intervention.

"I've seen the way you look at her," he added in spite of himself when Naru was at the door. The younger man paused in the act of leaving and half-turned as if he wanted to speak and Lin mentally readied himself for a sharp rebuke. None was forthcoming. Naru merely looked at him and then left without a word.

He had truly been intending to speak to Akio-san. There had been some points in his investigation that he felt had not been resolved to his satisfaction. He hadn't mentioned it yet, but some of the data had been leading him to the conclusion that it was an inside job. Well, actually, he had already suspected Toriame Umeko but that had been a wrong guess. The _ame-onna_ had disappeared after explaining herself and the real architect had woken up with absolutely no memory of the events at all and volunteering little help at all though one detail had been nagging at him.

"I don't know what came over my mind but I had this sudden urge to base the Ferris wheel's design on a picture of a Tibetan prayer wheel…" She frowned. "Though I'm not sure I ever owned such a photograph. Perhaps someone gave it to me? I'm sorry I can't help much," Umeko apologized, her brow creasing prettily.

After some preliminary discussion with Lin, they had agreed that the park attraction was probably inviting and trapping all manner of spirits in its gigantic revolutions. He would have to inform the site foreman of it. Coming out by garden entrance fronting the rooms, his foot connected with something soft lying on the gravel.

With a pained yell, Mai sat up, looking slightly dazed amidst the flowering shrubs. A few strands of her brown hair had remained trapped under the tip of Naru's black loafer and she glared venomously at him.

"Why are you lying in the middle of the path?" he demanded, unaffected by the strength of her frown. Mai shrugged, her anger leaving her as quickly as it had came.

"That's a good question. I'll be leaving now. Please excuse me," she mumbled, stalking away with her hair over her eyes.

He let her go. The sun was blazing high in the sky and he looked up, surprised when a few drops of water splashed onto the ground before him. The air was clear up there… he was just about to start after her when he heard her surprised gasp from just beyond the end of the path.

"Himitsu-san! Are you alright? You're all wet!"

"Oh, please don't worry about it Taniyama-chan! Your friends had played a harmless little prank on me that's all."

"What?" He heard her shrill as he walked towards them. Mai's glumness seemed to have evaporated completely. She looked, in fact, energized as she rolled up her shirt sleeves with a determined look on her face. "Let me go talk to Bou-san," she growled dangerously.

"Hold a minute right there." Naru had appeared at the back entrance. He stared coldly at Himitsu. "Take off your shirt."

"What?" Mai said after a beat.

"Take off your shirt or I'll do it for you," Naru repeated flatly.

Mai's eyes widened at this. "Er. Naru have you gone mad?"

"I've never been saner," he said impassively. "Would you care to do as I say Himitsu-san, or is there something you would prefer _secret_?"

The man shifted his wet jacket onto his other arm. "I've no idea what you're saying," he said bemusedly.

"Yes you do. You might want to consider wearing darker coloured shirts the next time you fall into a pool," Naru answered as Bou-san, followed by Lin, Yasuhara and John arrived. With the exception of the Chinese man, they were clad only in their towels and Mai found herself sheepishly giving her shoes her full and undivided attention.

"Wait, wait Himitsu-kun! Let me apologise!" Takigawa said when he caught sight of her. "Oh! Umm! Mai!" he sputtered and then didn't seem to know what to say. The other three however were staring unabashedly at Himitsu.

"Your back…" John said.

"What are you guys talking about?" Mai asked.

John took her hand and pulled her over to where they were standing, behind the site foreman's assistant. Her eyes went round. "You…"

"There was one more man who escaped yesterday." Naru took a step forward. "Where were you last night?"

Himitsu's smile had faded and he looked wary. "In the staff quarters. I was looking for clues to Taniyama-san's wherabouts."

"It can't have been too difficult since you had the latest set of the site blueprints with you."

Yasuahra nodded wisely. "Ah! So that's why we couldn't find it back in the control room…"

"How- Himitsu's jaw had dropped and he looked angry.

Naru wasn't smirking. His glare was icy as he spoke. "You have quite the interesting tattoo that we can all see through your wet shirt."

Himitsu's face was white and he clenched and unclenched his fist tightly. "How fortunate for you, Shibuya-san," he snarled. "You've managed to resolve the finer points of your investigation."

* * *

Himitsu-san gave himself up soon after that. As he said, four men (not counting Naru who was still injured) against him were pretty big odds. Akio-san's miserable expression was the hardest to bear. He had truly been hurt by his assistant's betrayal. "I'll be handing in my resignation once this project is over," he told us. "Anyway, it's time I retired."

Sighing at how events had turned out, I had walked outside, wanting to get away from the others when there was the sound of footsteps behind me. It was Naru. I'd know the tread of his measured footfalls anywhere. He too looked up at the sky. It had been windy the whole time we had stayed here and the clouds were scudding overhead speedily, only this time they were fluffy, cotton like. I spoke first.

"Poor Akio-san. He looked so disappointed. I wonder why Himitsu would have…"

Naru unfurled a little scrap of paper and handed it to me. It was a torn talisman, scribbled over with Sanskrit. "His real name is Hatsumo Yuji. The police have records that a man by that name once participated in a protest against the demolition of a shrine. According to their investigations, he was an avid practitioner of esoteric Buddhism."

"Oh." There didn't seem to be much else to say on the matter and I returned the talisman to him. Our fingers touched briefly; his were cool and dry as he deftly accepted the paper before tucking it into his pocket. "Shouldn't this go with the police?" I asked and he looked away, disinterested, which meant he couldn't be bothered to answer such an obvious question.

"Fine... I guess you don't have to answer for my sake."

I flop down on the grass, leaning against the rough bark of the tree. I had expected Naru to go away but he sat down companionably next to me, with one knee drawn up close and his other leg stretched out comfortably. Catching sight of my curious stare, he leaned away with a smirk. "Haven't you seen a good-looking guy before?"

I looked away with a huff. "I'm stuck with one almost everyday."

"You say it like it's a bad thing," he remarked casually, his attention turning back to the blue and white sky above us.

"Well…"

How should I put it? That he is the biggest jerk known to mankind? That it's really too bad that his face is constantly utilized for uncharitable frowning and looking smug? Then I remember back in that underground chamber he had a different kind of look. There had been anger but there had been something else too… I smiled, feeling warmth bloom in me as I considered his reaction on hindsight.

"Ne…Naru? Back when you were rescuing me… were you afraid?" I asked innocently.

"Would you care to specify which incident you are referring to? You've needed rescuing so many times I'm not sure which you are talking about."

"Jeez… You know what I'm talking about!" He peered at me, his eyebrow arched in feigned ignorance.

"In the _chamber_," I said finally. Naru doesn't answer, and I quickly pressed on, sensing awkwardness. "Thank you for coming to get me."

This time he responds with a slight nod and then got up to leave. I could feel it. My opportunity to really speak to him was fading rapidly and it was now or never.

"I think I still love you," I burst out, the words tumbling over each other in a rush. He stopped, turned to face me and I lowered my gaze as heat travelled up. "I was probably lying to myself when I said I didn't want to find out what you and Toriame were up to. I wanted to, really badly, even if Masako _was_ the instigator." That bit I had to clarify. I'm not really a snoop. No, _really_, I'm not!

He took a step forward. There is an unreadable look in his blue eyes, but then Naru had always been more or les unfathomable when he wasn't sulking about something (and he most definitely was not sulking now).

"If-if I didn't,"

I was stuttering again and Naru wasn't helping things with him standing so close I could smell the antiseptic under his shirt. "If I didn't still like you I wouldn't have so jealous would I?" I mutter, wanting suddenly for a hole to open up in the ground so that I could disappear into it.

"You are indubitably an idiot," he answered simply. "I don't think anyone else has been brave or possibly stupid enough to have attempted to proposition me again after I have rejected them."

"There's Masako," I whisper.

His eyes narrowed dangerously and I knew I was treading dangerous waters. "She _likes_ you that much," I conceded in fairness, stubbornly. Most people would have demonstrated some form of larger agitation by now, but not Naru. The only sign that he has had his feathers ruffled is a slight frown and the impatient sigh he emitted.

"I'm not easy to like."

"Yeah…"

"I don't go for things like romance. It's an absurd waste of time."

"That sounds like you," I agreed, nodding my head. He raised an eyebrow.

"You chatter too much for my liking and your intelligence leaves much to be desired."

"You didn't mention how you find me pretty," I smiled innocently. Naru tensed and I realized that I had caught him off-guard. Had I been right?

"I find that I am better looking," he added smoothly. "But you aren't unattractive."

I snickered. Something, very much like a happy balloon inside me seemed to have snapped and floated away. I cannot believe that this conversation is occurring now. Naru had begun to walk away but halfway, he looks back.

"For other reasons."

"_What_? That reason better not be tea," I groused.

Naru had continued down the path back but he turned back, a brief smirk that was halfway to becoming a smile. "Make sure you turn up on time tomorrow at the office. And Mai? Tea. I want a cup before we leave this place."

_Idiot._

~ End ~

* * *

_A/N: About names: __Himitsu = secret_

_And yes, it does end like this. I personally like to keep their relationship open in this fic and the ending could mean either way I think._


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